Thinking « Joe Auricchio

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Minor Lasts

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

I’m leaving San Diego in less than two weeks, so I’m starting to notice in the back of my mind that I’m doing certain things for “The Last Time”. You know, like, this is The Last time I’ll fuel up at the Chevron by my house. Or: this is The Last Time I’ll have sushi in San Diego.

Except I’m not quite that close to leaving, yet. Most things I do, I’ll do a few more times. It’s only The Last Time I’ll do some pretty obscure things.

Yesterday was The Last Time I’ll be held up at the train crossing… by two trains going opposite directions. Today was The Last Time I’ll fuel up at the Chevron by my house… when I was already going east… in the morning. Tomorrow will be The Last Time I go to my research meeting… to the Friday meeting… on my bike.

It feels like a suburban kindergarten version of the detachment process: Everyone’s drawing gets a gold star, whether or not they even picked up a crayon; every dumb mundane thing I do gets promoted to the ‘Last’ that dumb mundane thing.

Oh, I think I forgot to say in previous posts. I’m moving to San Francisco. Excellent location, vicinity of 15th and Market, near public transit, walking distance from Haight and Castro and Mission and their scads of wonderful bars. Come visit, we’ll test that theory, just to make sure it still holds, like they do in science. Yes of course you can crash on the couch.

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Thoughts on Fukushima Daiichi

Sunday, March 20th, 2011

Yet again, people have heard erroneous and/or misleading and/or sensationalized warnings about a set of unfortunate events befalling a complicated and potentially dangerous system. (“A lie can get halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes”, attributed to Twain). Today it happens to be Fukushima Daiichi.

Yet again, it is the solemn duty ;) of those who took care to inform themselves as best they could, to reassure people: “It’s fine. Things aren’t going right, but it’s not going to be the end of the world. It’s not that big a deal.” The refrain is as old as technology and technologists.

Sidebar: Sometimes this backfires. Sometimes calm is advised in actual emergencies that require immediate response. Sometimes the original sentiment cools and lithifies into reactionaryism. The ongoing debate over climate change comes to mind.

Just some thoughts. I’m reading Anathem, so my mental and philosophical models of Technology are being violently spun around and shaken.

On a lighter note:

Unit 1 at Fukushima Daiichi was originally scheduled for shutdown this week (before a Feb extension for another decade). Like the cop’s partner in a crime drama’s first act: “Why did it have to be Simmons who took that bullet tonight, Chief? He was two weeks away from retirement.”

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Why You Don’t Want ZFS on Mac OS X

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

Scott told me yesterday about a company bringing Sun’s ZFS filesystem to Mac OS X, picking up where Apple left off.

To be honest, I don’t understand why someone would try porting ZFS now. What Apple offered wasn’t just a new filesystem. Users don’t care about filesystems: they are a technical detail. Instead, Apple would change Mac OS X, across the whole system, to take the best advantage of the new capabilities and guarantees ZFS offers.

“Time Machine 2″ with ZFS’s cheap easy snapshots. A new default policy to set copies=2 on important folders like ~/Documents and ~/Library/Mail – better protection for users’ data, with zero effort. Every FireWire or USB hard disk would become as smart as a Drobo. And so on. Apple would do what they always do with new technology: turn an uninteresting detail into a series of small and large fixes and features that directly improve the Mac OS X experience for all users.

Instead, this new port will be just another entry in a list of filesystems most people don’t use. The system at large won’t do anything differently to take advantage of ZFS. To get any real benefit, users will have to study ZFS and figure out how to apply it to their system. That limits it to users technically competent enough to just use Solaris or Linux.

The worst news is that this port will become a support nightmare. 10.7 will come out soon. Apple puts zero effort into maintaining compatibility for low-level system modifications. So, 10.7 will probably break ZFS. The developers will scramble to fix it. Some users will lose data in the confusion. Two years later, 10.8 will come out. It will probably break ZFS. And so on.

For those who choose ZFS on Mac OS X, the question remains: What problem are you solving? What data do you have that’s so important that you want the durability guarantees and administration capabilities of ZFS, but so unimportant that you don’t mind the unreliability and future integration worries of a filesystem your OS vendor already decided they don’t want to support?

Thanks to my Dad for the Question.

Posted in Coding, Thinking, Writing | 1 Comment »

Another political post

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

Yeah, I do this once in a while.

Here is the voicemail I just left for California Senator Barbara Boxer. I wrote every word myself.

I think the Transportation Security Administration has gone too far. In the name of protecting us from terrorists, they are violating our constitutional rights to privacy and to freedom from unreasonable searches. Air travelers today face an unacceptable choice between two invasive and humiliating forms of search: to be seen naked on full-body scanners, or to be groped in an invasive pat-down.

I’m sure you have read the open letter from UC San Francisco faculty voicing their serious concern about the health risks of the backscatter X-ray machines. Rafi Sela, former head of the Israel Airport Authority, has given interviews recently in which he describes the machines as “useless” and easy to defeat. These machines do not make us safer, and may actually be harmful, yet the TSA has pushed them into service at great expense. There is an even greater cost these machines take: the dignity and privacy of our own bodies. I hope you will agree with me that this state of affairs is completely unacceptable.

I believe much of the money spent on the TSA would be better used on intelligence, emergency response, or – here’s a crazy idea – schools and parks. The TSA is a bad security trade-off. It is time to stop and find a different course. Senator Boxer, I hope that during tomorrow’s TSA oversight hearing, you will demand the invasive and unconstitutional full-body scanners be removed, and further, that you will question the TSA’s fundamental role and effectiveness.

I’m not happy with the last paragraph. I should have done another draft.

I wanted to say something like this, but it didn’t seem to fit, and I couldn’t get the words to say what I wanted to. So, here’s the “deleted scene”:

Security is always a trade-off: it is only gained at the expense of something else. Nothing in the world can be made one hundred percent safe. But, as we try harder and harder, the costs grow more and more dear. Now, we are buying security at the cost of the dignity and privacy of our own bodies. I believe this is completely unacceptable.

Posted in Doing, Thinking, Writing | 1 Comment »

Passwords and typing timing

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

I type my 17-character password very fast. It’s a strictly automatic process, all muscle-memory.

The timing is very critical and synchronization problems happen a lot. There’s lots of hand-alternation; sometimes one hand is a decisecond early or late and I type a letter out of order. Sometimes I hit J instead of H because the “down” muscles are faster than the “left” muscles.

All these errors are compounded because I don’t actually know my password consciously. I’m not typing a word, I’m just activating a motor program. I don’t think “H”, I just put my finger “where it’s supposed to go next”. So all the error-correction in the cerebellum and motor cortex that I’ve built up from a decade of typing never has a chance to help.

Amusingly, I can type my ordinary and root passwords just fine under the influence of alcohol. So a complex password isn’t an IID for a computer.

On a darkly humorous note, many years from now, this may be an excellent stroke diagnostic. If I can’t type my password without concentrating, it’s time to call the paramedics.

Posted in Coding, Doing, Thinking | 8 Comments »

Awe

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

There is a professor at UCSD (Angela Yu, Cognitive Science department) who graduated from MIT with a 5.0 GPA on a 5.0 scale.

This is impressive.

She majored in theoretical math, brain & cognitive sciences, and computer science. Yes, that’s three degrees.

This is dumbfounding.

She did it in four years.

This can’t be possible.

Posted in Thinking | 2 Comments »

Google is the New Bartlett’s

Thursday, November 13th, 2008

I wasn’t sure of the exact phrasing of Einstein’s old chestnut about difficulty in mathematics. So I googled it. I haven’t found a really authoritative source, but there are definitely plenty of variations. So I picked one that sounded right.

As far as I can tell, it’s not even in Bartlett’s, which is a bit troubling. In fact, I can’t find any reputable source or citation. Is this an apocryphal quote?

Posted in Thinking | 1 Comment »

Joshua Tree

Thursday, November 13th, 2008

Another personal post. Last weekend (8-10 Nov) I went with UCSD’s Outback Adventures to Joshua Tree National Park for a weekend of rock climbing. Joshua Tree is a world-renowned destination for climbers, and it’s easy to see why: the northwestern part of the park seems to be composed solely of steep and interestingly-textured rock faces to climb up and beautiful vistas of the high desert to look out upon.

The Outback Adventures folks were experienced, taught us what we needed to know, encouraged us to do our best, and generally had their stuff together. I would strongly recommend any of their outings based on my experience.

I’m still very new to climbing. This quarter I started going to the climbing gym on campus once a week with a friend, and a month ago I went on a day trip with OA to Mission Trails park and climbed on actual rock. This weekend was the test for me: is climbing something I’ll keep on doing once a week at a gym, as a form of exercise I enjoy much more than lifting weights? Or is this a serious hobby I’ll put time and effort into? The answer is clear to me after this weekend: I really like climbing, and I want to do it as often as possible. To that end I’ve purchased a harness and shoes (thanks Craigslist!) and I’ll try to go to the gym twice a week.

The next step is to find a climbing partner who has the equipment and experience to set up top ropes on actual rock. It seems to me the rope and protection gear would cost $300-500 (new list price), and that’s an investment I’m not ready to commit just yet. I wouldn’t know how to use it either. So I have to find someone willing to set up climbs and teach me how to use the gear. To show me the ropes, if you will. Sorry.

On a more introspective note, I’m still amused by my newfound enjoyment of The Great Outdoors. My family was never the outdoorsy type, and we never went camping or hiking or anything like that. Until this summer I’d never been camping at all. But so far, I’ve been enjoying it a lot. Was I always an outdoorsy person, but I never knew? On the other hand, it’s possible that I’m developing a taste for camping simply because I’m experiencing it at this time of my life, going with these people, doing these things. Were I occasionally dragged on yet another family camping trip all throughout my childhood, would I have a different opinion? Nature versus nurture: am I a person who likes camping and hiking but never discovered it until now, or do I like camping and hiking because of the ways I’m experiencing it now? It’s unknowable, of course.

Posted in Doing, Thinking | 3 Comments »

A Political Post

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

Dear California:

I’m ashamed to tears to live in this state. Yesterday, 4.8 million of my neighbors voted against civil rights and equal protection. Proposition 8 was never about homosexuality, or religion, or the traditional marriage ceremony: it was about government adjudication of who can engage in domestic partnership, and the answer of the people is: “Not everyone”. The beliefs of a few about things that don’t affect them have now been turned into laws trampling on the rights of many. Congratulations, California, you just passed a miscegenation law.

To everyone who thinks this is a religious issue, to all Christians who voted yes on Proposition 8 because you interpret Leviticus 18:22 as declaring homosexuality a sin and calling you to take positive action to prevent same-sex couples from being happy in such sin, may I draw your attention to the New Testament: Luke 6:36-37, Colossians 3:13, 2 Corinthians 3:6, Galatians 5:14-15, and Galatians 3:19-28 for starters. You can think homosexuality is a sin, if you want to ignore the new covenant, follow all the laws of Leviticus, and declare putting meat and dairy on the same plate a sin as well, and miss the entire point of Christianity. But even if you do that, don’t you dare condemn other people for what you call a sin. Next time, try listening to what good old JC actually said before you try to do something in his name. Hint: it’s about forgiveness and love, not about legalism.

To all of you Yes on 8 campaigners who claimed this was about protecting the marriage of straight couples from some sort of degradation of society, or about what our children would be taught in schools, or that kids need both a mother and a father or they’ll grow up to be criminals and/or homosexuals, or especially anybody holding one of those signs that said “Prop 8 = less government”, come see me sometime, and I’ll send you to whatever hell you wish. You lied through your teeth to convince otherwise reasonable but tragically uninformed people that Prop 8 was something it wasn’t. I’ve been trying to keep my feelings today mostly in disappointment and not hate: but I really really really don’t like you.

My hopes and whatever feeble prayers I dare offer are with the ACLU, Lambda Legal, and the National Center of Lesbian Rights, who are currently challenging the constitutionality of Prop 8 in the California Supreme Court; and that the Court will do the right thing and protect the rights of all people.

I should be happy with the outcome of the Presidential election. The candidate I supported won, and I think the country sent a message that we’re not happy with the way things have gone. The power of the people is passing to a younger generation and we’re going to make some changes. I should be happy, but today I just can’t be. More than anything else, I’m shocked that this happened here. This is the West Coast, the land of hippies and greenies and crazies of all sorts. If this is what 47.9% of Californians believe, what does that say about the rest of the country? How can the same country elect Barack Obama and ban gay marriage? I just don’t understand.

All right. Back to infrequent natterings about technology.

P.S. Hey, Santa Clara county, where do you think you’re going? You come right back here. Santa Clara County, you screwed up big. 33.7% of you voted against BART. What the hell?! Who voted against BART? You’d better hope there are 5,000 more uncounted absentee votes for Measure B hiding somewhere. If B finally fails when every vote is in, I will find all of you and I will beat your ass back into the real world where we need BART in the South Bay so bad it hurts.

Full disclosure on my political & religious positions: I’m an atheist who sees a lot of value in the best teachings of Christianity and all religions; the teachings that nobody can always follow because it’s actually difficult to be a good person. I have strong respect for civil liberties and the rights of individuals. I’m a bit left on welfare issues. On the other hand, I don’t trust the free market as we know it today. I’d love to, but it proves itself time and again to be a terrible servant of the public good.

Posted in Thinking, Writing | 8 Comments »

Facebook, the new long-distance phone line

Tuesday, September 16th, 2008

My friend’s cousin (we’ll call him P., because that’s his initial) added me on Facebook. I know P from a camping trip a few months back.

After confirming P’s add, I took a look at his Facebook wall and recent actvitity. He’s connected to other members of the extended family: my friend, my friend’s little sister, cousins and aunts and uncles from all around the family. There’s a running conversation on his wall with a cousin of the same age from a different side of the family¹. P’s status is “looking forward to tomorrow to find out if we are going to have a boy or a girl. :)”. I fully expect he’ll post the news, and potentially an ultrasound picture.

Families usually keep in touch like this with periodic phone calls. I suppose the white-collar 20-35 demographic uses email too, since we’re so used to it in school and business. But I wonder if this is an isolated case of a family using Facebook, or the first I’m seeing of a larger progression. Rushi has pointed out that he has seen high school friends’ parents online, connecting with their high school friends.

Addendum 22 Oct: This is Why You Don’t Friend Your Boss on Facebook. That kinda changes the workplace dynamic, I suppose.

Her husband is on Facebook too. ↩