Author: Payam

Chemist, philosopher, vagrant.
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In the Shadow of the Moon

In the Shadow of the Moon is a great movie. Perhaps it was perceived as an epitaph to the nation’s greatest achievement when it was released, but a propos of the recent news of the imminent launch of the lunar explorer and the recent passing of the 40th anniversary of the lunar landing, it is a superb way of remembering how great we once were so that we could achieve such greatness again.

These men are old. It is only proper that we record and remember their remarkable and extraordinarily positive journeys as we do the experiences of Holocaust survivors.

Maybe everyone will also begin to remember what remarkable goals we achieve when we entrust power to great people with extraordinary capabilities.

And, these pioneering astronauts were extraordinary people. Amazing people.

The end of another era is upon us, indeed.

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Time to End Corporate Cell Phone Monopolies

Apple Stuck Apologizing For AT&T Yet Again With A $30 iTunes Credit

Naturally, this pisses me off because it will ultimately hurt the bottom line of my Apple stock, and because it means that I will be stuck with the same lousy AT&T service for some time.

The local phone company has no authority to dictate which phones I can and cannot use. Wireless communication companies should not have this authority, either.

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Cruising in a Houseboat

Amsterdam Tests Residential 1Gbps Fiber – While city muni-fiber operation delivers fiber to the house boat… – dslreports.com.

On some level, it’s infuriating to know that houseboats in Amsterdam get better internet bandwidth than the most luxurious penthouse in Manhattan or San Francisco.

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Effects of Smog on Pregnancy

L.A. Traffic Causing Premature Births: Study: Discovery News.

The number of studies linking the poor air quality to pulmonary problems and generally poor health are numerous. Now, a new study shows that smog adversely affects pregnancies. Yet, somehow, one cannot believe that this will effect any more action in a populace long since drowned in utter apathy.

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Baghdad North?

Belfast Catholics riot over Protestant parade – Yahoo! News

The constant fighting between Catholics and Protestants in Belfast is far too reminiscent of the Shi’a-Suni battles of Baghdad than of any rivalry in northern Europe. Maybe Belfast should be called Baghdad North.

More links here.

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Iranian Irony

Thousands protest in Iran, defying crackdown vow – washingtonpost.com.

Ahead of the protests, Tehran’s governor Morteza Tamaddon accused “foreign counterrevolutionary networks” of plotting new marches. “If some individuals plan to carry out any anti-security actions by listening to (protest) calls … they will be smashed under the feet of our aware people,” he said late Wednesday, according to the state news agency IRNA.

Irony is forever. The fact that a man whose last name, Tamaddon, translates as “civility” or “civilization” would utter such hateful words comes as no surprise, therefore. The continued piling of such evidence on the smoldering ash heap of human history confirms this axiom of humanity.

Irony is forever.

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Saddam’s WMD Story

Saddam Hussein Said WMD Talk Helped Him Look Strong to Iran – washingtonpost.com.

It was what many among us had suspected all along, principally among them Harry Shearer, who said just as much in one of his Le Show broadcasts back in 2003 or 2004.

Perhaps we need more real comedians in politics, instead of boneheads who are accidentally funny. Let’s hope–nay, pray–that this reasoning is born out in Al Franken‘s election.

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The Bitch Loves Me

YouTube – Bianca Loves Payam.

This is a video whose release to the general public has been delayed far too long. The object of my affections is Bianca, my friend’s exceptionally friendly and cuddly miniature pomeranian dog. She is a female dog and, hence, a bitch.

The object of her affections is me, and as this video plainly demonstrates, the abundance of love between us is truly immeasurable.

This video evidence seems to contradict Wikipedia’s claims about the pomeranian’s behavior:

Pomeranians are typically very friendly, playful and active. The breed is very protective of their owners and love to be around them. They are very intelligent and are easily trained. They rank 23rd in Stanley Coren‘s The Intelligence of Dogs, being of excellent working/obedience intelligence. Pomeranians socialize well with other dogs, animals, and people. Pomeranians are extroverted and can develop the habit of barking excessively only if the behavior is rewarded (i.e. allowed to beg for food).

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The Spoils of Crime

Ruth Madoff forfeits asset claims, left with $2.5 million | Reuters

$2.5 million is not a bad take at all for suffering through decades of lavish living at the clients’ expense. One wonders why someone how has absolutely no bargaining power vis a vis the prosecution of a confessed criminal is granted such a healthy settlement when a huge number of the defrauded clients are left with absolutely nothing.

The soup thickens, indeed.

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Pretending to Be a Pretend Musician

DJ Hero confirmed for Wii, 360, ‘PlayStation’ – News at GameSpot.

Hyperreality has had many proponents  in its short, illustrious and extremely controversial tenure as a philosophical concept, but Activision‘s DJ Hero may be the advent that may finally prove the validity, the truth contained in and the reality of hyperreality.

Hyperreality refers to the primacy of the simulation over the reality that it simulates. It is the acceptance and the perception of the simulation as the reality. The reality gave rise to the simulation is forgotten or is otherwise overwhelmed by the simulation that is based upon it. It is not just the original object that is forgotten, but the concept of originality.

What could possibly encapsulate this idea better than DJ Hero? Without a doubt, the modern disk jockey is a creative creature, but it is not a musician. She or he pretends to be a musician by assembling frequently digitized pieces produced by bona fide musicians into a pastiche that sounds somehow different, new and original. Yet the piece is neither different nor original. It differs only slightly in quantitative terms in sound (slightly faster rhythm, slightly different instrumentation), and it is in no way an original composition. DJ output is in every way an expression of the artist’s intent, but it only rarely constitutes an original composition that expands the musical lexicon. After all, the DJ doesn’t even play any real instruments or truly compose music by sitting down and writing notes (digitally or literally with ink and paper.

In fact, most modern DJs simply “play” a laptop computer. DJ software simulates turn tables on the computer, and the DJ uses the virtual controls of the DJ software to manipulate the digital sounds. In as much, DJs may arrange music, but one is hard pressed to call the process composition.

So, what is DJ Hero, in this light? It is a piece of software that allows one to be pretending to be manipulating a piece of software that allows one to be pretending to be making an original piece of music by mixing the original sound bites (and bytes) culled from highly digitized and stylized pieces of music recorded by a real musician under circumstances that were completely unrelated in context to the piece being assembled by the disk jockey.

The concept of musicianship is obliterated. It is so far removed from the concept of “music” in the context of the DJs labor that it is utterly invisible, imperceptible. Is this a case of hyperreality, or infinite regress? Certainly, it is a case that has nothing to do with music or musicianship as the concepts have been understood heretofore.

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