The Daily Bendiken

Discovery News: Galileo's fingers and tooth recovered by collector

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:13:08 +0100

Discovery News: Galileo's fingers and tooth recovered by collector:

“The tooth and fingers (from Galileo’s right hand [which had held the pen with which so many great works were written]) were removed in 1737 when the scientist’s body was exhumed from his unconsecrated grave [in] a solemn event, fully described by a notary report. For 95 years since the death in 1642 of the great scientist, ecclesiastical authorities refused to allow Galileo to be buried in a consecrated ground.”

US economy vs Chinese economy

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:31:00 +0100

US economy vs Chinese economy

The Dow priced in gold, 1900-2009

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:14:33 +0100

The Dow priced in gold, 1900-2009

NSA: Now Spying on Americans

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:42:02 +0100

NSA: Now Spying on Americans

Lisp Machines in Ten Documents

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:26:41 +0100

Lisp Machines in Ten Documents

"I’m not throwing up and hungover, I’m just reallocating the malinvested resources of the..."

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:56:43 +0100

“I’m not throwing up and hungover, I’m just reallocating the malinvested resources of the boom.”

- Steven Horwitz, Austrian Business Cycle Theory for Dummies: Recovery Chapter

Internet speeds around the world

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:29:33 +0100

Internet speeds around the world

Solid-State Drives (SSDs) FTW

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:31:38 +0100

Solid-State Drives (SSDs) FTW

Halloween skull

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:54:42 +0100

Halloween skull

"Resistance movements are governed by the same dynamic as the open-source software community, as..."

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:34:00 +0100

“Resistance movements are governed by the same dynamic as the open-source software community, as described by Eric Raymond in “The Cathedral and the Bazaar.” Innovations are developed rapidly by self-managed individuals, independently — stigmergically — and then those innovations that prove themselves useful are rapidly adopted by the entire network. In hierarchies, the inefficiencies of organizations are multiples of all the individual inefficiencies of their members; in networks, they’re contained and bypassed as the innovations of the most efficient are adopted universally with zero transaction costs. That’s what “Fourth Generation Warfare” is: asymmetric warfare governed by the developmental ethos of Linux. […] The generals in the giant bureaucracies are always busy fighting the last war. The TSA bureaucrats expend tens of thousands of committee man-hours to make sure nobody can ever hijack a plane again, or hide explosives in their shoes, or smuggle in explosives in shampoo bottles — stuff that Al Qaeda would never try twice anyway, because they turn on a dime to come up with the next thing the TSA bureaucrats haven’t thought of yet. […] We see hierarchical institutions challenged, and soundly beaten, on every side by the new network culture.”

- Kevin Carson, The Network Revolution Versus the State and Its Allies (via Mike Gogulski)

"I was now getting, as I have said, one dollar and fifty cents per day. I contracted for it; I earned..."

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:34:19 +0200

“I was now getting, as I have said, one dollar and fifty cents per day. I contracted for it; I earned it; it was paid to me; it was rightfully my own; yet, upon each returning Saturday night, I was compelled to deliver every cent of that money to Master Hugh. And why? Not because he earned it, — not because he had any hand in earning it, — not because I owed it to him, — not because he possessed the slightest shadow of a right to it; but solely because he had the power to compel me to give it up. The right of the grim-visaged pirate upon the high seas is exactly the same.”

- Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself

Dilbert humanitarian award strip

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:40:55 +0200

Dilbert humanitarian award strip

What hyperinflation looks like…

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:54:18 +0200

What hyperinflation looks like…

Report on Slovak State Police attacks against Mike Gogulski, 5 September 2009

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:05:00 +0200

Report on Slovak State Police attacks against Mike Gogulski, 5 September 2009:

Spread the link and help bring Miroslav Pašek, corrupt Slovak police officer, to justice.

Trying new things is the best part of being young

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:12:00 +0200

Trying new things is the best part of being young

"Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do..."

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:04:49 +0200

“

Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that’s it. […]

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force. The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gangbanger, and a single gay guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender. […]

When I carry a gun, I don’t do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I’m looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don’t carry it because I’m afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn’t limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation…and that’s why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

”

- Why the gun is civilization

Electrum: my first Android application

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:00:48 +0200

Electrum: my first Android application

"I started carrying, concealed, maybe 20 years ago after a run-in with a racist skinhead (in good old..."

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:37:19 +0200

“

I started carrying, concealed, maybe 20 years ago after a run-in with a racist skinhead (in good old liberal, “enlightened”, downtown Portland!), who took exception to my choice of wife. His rude lesson was taken to heart, and I’ve carried ever since. […]

Actually, carrying in Wyoming is almost unneeded, because so little crime is there (gee, I wonder why — it couldn’t be because Wyoming has the highest per capita gun ownership, or something along those lines, could it?) But one still needs a gun now and then. […]

The main reason though, is tourists, who abound in the Cody area where I live. When tourists see ordinary folks walking around with guns, there are two possible mental reactions. If a gun lover, it is “Wyoming looks like a good place to live!” If a gun hater, it is “I could never live here!” This suits me fine.

”

- Paul Bonneau, No One Ever Asks Why I Carry a Gun (via Bill St. Clair)

"If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the people to gather wood, divide the work, and..."

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:43:32 +0200

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the people to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

- Antoine de Saint Exupéry

U.S. incarceration rate per 100,000 people

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:28:59 +0200

U.S. incarceration rate per 100,000 people