For Sale
Post Category: Uncategorized
Add comment July 21st, 2008 at 10:09pmbenbastian
TV Sucks
I must be getting cranky in my old age…
Dear Sunday,
I’ve just watched your report on ‘Questioning Science’, and I’m
disgusted about the way that this issue was portrayed.Science is not religion. The fundamental difference is one of belief.
Religion requires that all practitioners have faith that what they are
told is divine truth. Science is the opposite. First a scientist must
have a theory of how the world works and then they must provide data
to back their claim. Others are then encouraged to collect their own
data to improve, or refute the theory. Every ninth grade science
student knows this, even if your reporters don’t.The science of climate change is based on hundreds of years of
scientific knowledge, and the collected works of thousands of people.
Anyone who wishes to add to the debate, either to refute or improve is
welcome to do so. BUT. You have to be able to step up to the plate.
The data is there. It is publicly accessible. The maths is there, in
any text book. You can’t just wave your hands in the air yelling ‘I
don’t believe, I don’t believe’. You have to be able to have a better
explanation and back it up with evidence. That is the scientific
method.The physical principles that the theory of climate change is based on
aren’t controversial. The interaction between radiation and gasses
have been known about for some time(If you don’t think this is true,
then you’d better stay away from your microwave). The only real
controversy comes from a distrust of hippies, and a need to sell
advertising space for SUVs. Beat up on hippies all you like, but don’t
make out that science is the Spanish inquisition, that would be a
slimy affront to the hard work of the thousands of scientists who
worked so hard to give you the life you lead.Yours sincerely
Ben Bastian
Post Category: 2 cents
Add comment June 29th, 2008 at 11:20pmbenbastian
Word of the Day
Defenestrate
Post Category: Uncategorized
1 comment June 19th, 2008 at 10:00pmbenbastian
Define me
I’m not a great facebook user. I never, never send on the glorified chain letters that is the request system and I almost never respond to them when they’re sent. I update my status only rarely, and when I do it’s usually a terse note to the effect that I’m tired, or working late or some such. I never read other peoples’ updates, or look at their photos, or read their wall. I’m …just … too… lazy.
However I noticed recently that a few of my friends have entries on their profiles with ‘Political Views’ and ‘Religious Views’. Which begged the question: what the hell are mine? Can I even define myself that way? Is it dishonest not to try? I certainly feel that I’m developing strong political opinions in my old age, and while my religious views aren’t perhaps as robust, somehow it seems like a cop out not to even think about it, given that religion and its role in society has always interested me.
So after some deliberation, I found some labels that I feel best apply to me and I put them up, for the facebook world to see. The problem is that neither label exists in facebook’s predefined list, so I’m going to repeat them here, with an explanation of what they mean to me:
Political Views: Natural Capitalist.
This is like being a greenie, in that I am mostly concerned with environmental issues, but where it differs from mainstream environmentalism is that I feel that a carefully designed free market economy is the best way of doing this. I chose this name based on an excellent book called ‘Natural Capitalism’ by Amory Lovins.
Religious Views: Eclecticist.
I was going to go with agnostic, but that seems like a cop out somehow. Eclecticism seems a much better fit. I am interested in religion, and I actively study it (when the mood takes me), however I pick and choose my beliefs carefully based on what seems to be be the best, and what fits best with my world view. Maybe this isn’t really a religion in the traditional sense, but it suits me.
Post Category: Uncategorized
1 comment June 13th, 2008 at 01:06ambenbastian
A New Arrival!
I have bought a new car. It is a prius. Yes, I am now a fully fledged eco warrior wanker prius driver.
While you might think that this means that I’m trying to save the planet, frankly that is tosh.
You might think that in this day of crazy petrol prices, it is because I’m a cheap bastard. That would be closer, but I already cycle to work and it doesn’t get any cheaper than that, and I have driven myself up to my eyeballs in debt to buy it. (Ok I drove myself up to my eyeballs in debt to buy our house, the car is the icing on the cake). And it would take 10 years of petrol savings to make up for it. Honestly I don’t know why I bought it.
But I’m glad I did.
It’s such a nerd’s car. For instance it has a little touch screen display that shows you a pretty picture of the regenerative power going to the brakes. Nothing useful mind you, like the current weather, or directions, or scantily clad women. Just the regenerative power going to the brakes. I’m already wondering if I can hack it to put space invaders on it.
Toyota did a great job of designing it. It’s like a car that fell out of a time warp from ten years in the future. Not a good car, mind you; more like one of the ones that university students will be driving. But from ten years in the future. That is why it’s sold so much better than Honda’s, which looks exactly like the petrol version of the car that it is replacing. Who wants that? No. You want to look at your car and know that electricity goes to its battery when it brakes, because a little screen in the dash tells you that it is. Who needs a radio?
Anyhow, I’m ridiculously chuffed with it. Expect to see me soon, wearing a skivvy, and boring you with my fascinating tales of eco-warriordom regenerative braking. And if you do, please don’t key my car.
Post Category: Uncategorized
1 comment June 1st, 2008 at 11:05pmbenbastian
The impact
The flashing blue and red lights colour the ocean and streak the cloudy night sky. The emergency crews in boxy landers hover, waiting. The impact is soon. I’m more curious than worried, although a ghoulish desire for carnage also colours my thoughts, a morbid need of spectacle.
There in the sky! It hurtles earthward. It’s so far away, barely on the horizon, but even from here I can see that it’s big. The emergency crews are ready; they swarm like locusts, trying to catch it with wires and ropes.
“Let it fall! Let it go!” Jeers echo around me - a few lonely individuals, disenfranchised from the society around them. They think that they will rise like gods from the destruction, that it will bring a cleaner, better world. Most watching are silent, however, like me. I haven’t felt the need to prepare myself. I’ve laid in no supplies, I’ve stayed in the city, I’ve not sought high ground. I never really believed that there would be a catastrophe.
The parachute must be hundreds of meters wide when it unfurls. A ragged cheer goes up from some of those who wait on the street with me. But I’m not so sure. It’s still falling too fast. The plan has succeeded, but not completely. I turn as it hits the ocean, which buckles and domes under the impact, a mountain of water three hundred meters high. There is no sound yet. The impact is kilometres away.
I turn to run. The others stand there, watching. They don’t realize yet.
Thought moves faster than feet. How many steps can I take before the wave hits? Will the city blunt its impact? How high will it be when it reaches here? These are my thoughts on the first step. How fast will the wave travel? How many steps do I have left? The second step. I see a metal ladder bolted to a wall of a boxy brick building. Third step. I don’t know if the ladder will hold, or the building will hold, or if the wave will simply wash over everything, but I don’t have any better plan. I throw myself at the fourth rung.
Post Category: aegri somnia
2 comments May 25th, 2008 at 08:58pmbenbastian
Pi O’clock
I always look up at my clock at exactly 3:14, and think. “Oh, It’s PI O’clock” I don’t know what this says about me.
Post Category: stupidity
1 comment May 21st, 2008 at 04:16pmbenbastian
Chair Project
Chair one is complete! (Only 3 more to go)
Okay, Okay, I know that this seems slow, but you have to remember that I only get a short period each weekend to work on this type of project - the rest of my time goes to looking after Sophia (as the weekend is mummy studying time).
In other news:
- I’ve listed my first ebay item (a copy of metroid prime 3)
- I’ve started on a new short story, tentatively titled ‘The good father’
- I hate out of memory issues, they’re always a colossal pain to debug and when you fix one, another two take its place.(You really have to design with memory in mind)
- I also built a shed, but I’ve yet to give it a base
Post Category: Projects
3 comments May 20th, 2008 at 12:26ambenbastian
Next Project
For my next project, while I consider what I’m going to write/program next (Ok so I already know, I’m just procrastinating). I’m doing something a little different: carpentry. Sal found this outdoor setting, in need of some TLC, which we(I) can do up.
I’ve already made a start (that’s why one of the chairs is missing, it’s currently in pieces)
As you can see, just with sanding (which is always a lot longer and more painful than you expect. Like software, it obeys Hofstadter’s Law) and painting (no staining) they’ve come up a beautiful red colour. I’m guessing at about 3 hours each weekend that I seem to get free, it should take in the order of 6 weeks.
Post Category: Uncategorized
3 comments May 8th, 2008 at 04:03pmbenbastian
A milestone
I’ve just finished the first draft of my first novel.
It’s terrible. The characters are two dimensional, they jump in and out of the action, sometimes they get forgotten altogether. Sometimes they manage to pull out improbably tricks out of nothing, with a fairly cringeworthy new agey “We are all made of light” type explanation. It has no real plot as such. The words don’t flow. My terse little phrases crunch together like ride-on-trains in a demolition derby.
That is to be expected, of course, it’s the first draft. There is a whole next phase of rewriting that will have to go into making it a full novel.
But I’m not going to do it. At least not yet.
If this experience has taught me anything it is that I haven’t yet perfected my craft of writing to the stage where I feel that I can do justice to the story that I want to tell. I know that I can get there but, I yet have a lot to learn, not least in estimation - I had hoped that this would take me six months, but in the end it took eighteen, not that bad given that I work in a job that is often way more than full time, and I’ve been also learning the disciplines of parenting, but still longer than I would wish.
But its also told me that I at least have the discipline to sit down and write, and that’s worth something. I also think that it’s hugely important that I can see that what I have written is mostly crap - it means that I am getting a sense of what is good and what isn’t, and hopefully means that what is written next will be better.
So what’s next?
I have a short story to revise, and another one that wants to be written, not to mention the three brothers of this one that are clamouring to be written. Plus it’d be nice to do some ‘programming for fun’ type stuff. We’ll see.
Post Category: Uncategorized
Add comment May 5th, 2008 at 04:17pmbenbastian
