etymo note: P راس -> Reg Rex

30.vI.MCDXXX

Rani, rania, rein , regna,

Remaining text. ... Read more

serve it up in english svp

25.V.MCDXXX

Summary: In conclusion, I think search engines like google and other web services / portals should always be served in an international language by default until the language setting is later changed and saved using cookies or whatever.

i hate when software makers start to make guesses for the user that they should not be making.

Most annoying, eg, is how google and other WWW public(?)/free(?) services make guesses about the language I want to read their service in based on the geo location of my IP. (although this is withOUt saved cookies i should disclaim.)

So if i'm a business traveler in myanmar, and tap a query into the search engine from the hotel bar or biz ctr, or try to access other services without saved cookies , i get served in malayo , which i've never learnt or read in my life.

and so even though the entire malayo nation itself has gone thru the trouble of making all its public information available to foreigners in one or moreinternational languages like english or french or chinese. Not so with service providers like google - noooo, they gotta play "smaaart" and guess for you what language You speak ! ... Read more

افندى (efendi) αὐθέντης authentic

12.I.1430

notice: this post contains both fact and fan[ta]cy (<- Pan,pangyr)

Authentic, authenticus, αὐθέντης , (Effendi) أفندى,

The turkish title (used for civil servants and the like) connotes a measure
of authority. It derives from the greek αὐθέντης.

It was in the hierarchy of the ottoman social system, ouranked by the bek and the pasha.

Afandem also was used to answer present in regimental contexts, or when coming to attention b/f a superior.

The usage was widespread throughout the arab world and persists in colloquial speech, with different semantics. ... Read more

Classifying knowledge by energy level

22.v.1430

The various domains of knowledge could be expressed as the functional domain for some knowledge measure function.

by way of example, the study of molecular biological systems that involve low levels of energy would be ranked lower than the study of the fluid dynamics of a waterfall, where the energies measured are much higher. And so the molecular biology would be to the left of waterfall dynamics on an axis or scale of energy levels.

The study of cosmology would probably one of the highest on the knowledge domain axis; and ironically for science, and by definition, theology would occupy the position on the axis with the highest energy level of all - the existence that transcends and contains the natural world and beyond. ad hoc schemes/heuristics to determine the energy level of a given knowledge domain seem feasible.

The initial motivation was to play around with the idea of an integrable knowledge mesaure - eg, a knowledge area function. This presented a challenge which was to find both a measure of knowledge and a metric (to define the domain and distance on the domain of that knowledge measure function, or knowledge area function).

some discussion is at knowledge_area_function.


... Read more

time, loops and motion

22.V.1430

when dealing with the passing of time in computer programming , there is no recourse like the loop. For instance, how else do we handle the repititiveness of time when doing things like printing a clock update?

programming indefinite timeframe in which to wait and catch events as they occur - involves a loop- like the processing loop.

* But what other loops are there nature? Motions.

* So is time generated by motion? In other words, in the absence of motion, is there no more time?

If Nature is customarily subtle, its signals that this may be true, could not be more blunt. Most of the motions we see are periodic. Indeed are physical and social existence are organized around those loops of time.

Entertaining the blind conjecture that time is loop-like. Recalls familiar notes.

* As we said, motion itself is loop-like due to laws.
* The relation of time to motion and energy is clear from e=mc^2 and e=hυ.
* so (maybe) motion generates time (?)

* iow, time is a function of motion. eg, time is like the displacement over its derivative t(s) = s(t)/s'(t).

* That time, as a function is periodic suggests time is a complex function.

... Read more

Computing as the evolution of writing

22.V.1430

computing, or programming are to humankind more like writing2.0.

writing , in implication, was not merely the aquired ability to record data.

It was also very much a programming tool - which with an individual's will
was exercised and accomplished - think contracts, court orders, decrees, wills,
and so on.

The transformative effect writing had on society was thus much more than the
more widespread communication of information. It included creating new social
spaces, and tools for action. Crucially it is through writing that mathematics
and exact engineering and technology were able to arise.

The ability to distribute and store information through was one of the secondary
applications or byproducts (lesser effects) of writing despite being at the root
of the motivation to write.

If the appearance of programming (or equivalently computing) in society at large in the past 60 years is an analogue to the effect of the invention of writing, then despite all the applications
seen so far - at the risk of aping Sir Papa WWW - we are still at the beginning of the computer era in terms of its profound
effect on society.

One of the things that initially stands out about computing is how it insinuated itself into every human activity. Despite being a product of electrical engineering and formal logic*, ie despite being an invention "like any other" it was as indispensible to human activity as others like planning and administration.

writing also became a necessity in every serious activity - from religion to trade everything required record keeping, planning, communication writs.

computing provided - well - computation. But it also xtended the record keeping. it automated record keeping and reduced most human activities to computations made on vast records of data.

Indeed, technically the computer was never more than that. A tool for data processing. like writing.

Both are intimately connected to our cognition and thought processes. We often cannot think without them. (here writing can be expanded to its larger sense which includes graphing or drawing as well - as a representational tool & faculty - an extension of the imagination).

Thus computing - or specifically computer programming - is the evolutionary step following writing.

Where writing has led to the ability to program and maintain civic institutions - from theology to accounting , computing gives the ability to program and automate intellectual activity and systems of knowledge.

*for a picture of the fields that fathered computer science , see http://augmented5th.dyndns.org/doku/doku.php?id=computation.
... Read more

things life teaches dept: if the universe were an algorithm

22.V.1430

if the entire universe is an algorithm,
then its entire run and outcome set must be known in advance.

there are good reasons why it is an algorithm, and not only as a collection of cellular automata primitives.

it is an alg, as a process that is controlled by sets of constraints - which are the physical laws.

even for a chaotic process, the constraints of physics , or of nature, apply.

it is an algorithm also in the sense of a dynamic model, we know it is controlled or self-regulating/controlling because the persistence of form of some of its objects , like us, despite a continual flow of matter "through" us. That was pointed out by Wiener in Cybernetics

Since a state function is defined (even if it is unknown) by the domain/range, and because a process itself is a set of state or transitions functions, it mus be viewed as a design, ie no different from other state transition machines, or state machines, or automata - save in complexity of course.

The implication is clear. As an algorithm, a formal (vs. natural) automatic machine, it is designed and like any well-designed system, its behavior and outcomes must have been anticipated and fully understood before its "deployment" :)



... Read more

2 points of aesthetics

17.V.1430

construction work in the states looks smart going up and smart after it's done
here it looks dumb going up and even dumber after it's finished

work well done / well conceived is aesthetically pleasing at every stage. ... Read more

quick notes on an arab space program ملاحظات سريعة عن برنامج الفضاء العربى

28.Iv.1430

(Pre.S. if you're willing to translate this note into good Arabic, lemme know)

- These are in no particular order, so even though some points might seem weak, subsequent others may be better.

- A space program or rather a space orientation need not replicate the traditional history of the first space agencies. It can encompass both technical and cultural objectives and directions. So although a bit misleading or limiting, the term "spc prgrm" is used throughout with this sense in mind.

- A spc prgrm can provide indirect help to education and curricula by galvanizing and motivating a lot of science discussions - now that it would be in the national landscape

- Likewise it has a beneficial effect on general morale - eg a source of pride - even despite the prevalent difficult qlty of life issues

- Participation can occur in cooperation with other regional space bodies, by contributing experiments, research, software, components, materials (ranging from insulation to optical surfaces) trainees, or whatever a given budget allows.

- In terms of the modern history of actual astronautics we have forfeited the leading position and so far have also foregone the position of contributors to the advances being made. But being merely on the consuming end - as we have been in so many other technological areas - is patently unacceptable - and no longer affordable.

- Being on the consuming end of spacefaring technology ,rather than the producing end has negative cultural and economic reprecussions on what is almost certainly the direction of future industry and world trade - extra terrestrial mineral exploitation and trade.

Not to mention that the mastery of spacefaring technology is imperative for a strong position in the long term future economy.

To clarify, the less contributing a region is, the less room it will have to stake claims on spacefaring services, legislation and opportunities.

For instance just as happened in Antarctica, and happening in the Arctic, there will be a rush to lay national claims to large patches of the Moon.

Unlike the distance from Antarctica and the arctic which kept a lot of big nations from taking an important interest in staking claims there (though even India and Germany have stations teams or personnel there), the Moon is equally distant for everybody.

There are obvious strategic implications if a given region, like the arab world, or individually at the state level, is unable to expand its claims the way space faring nations will be doing.

This makes a close involvement with local regional and international space efforts an imperative for any sensible long term planning.


- Potential to create a local market for local labor, as well as clean and high-tech industries to fulfill foreign demand.

- Boost to scientific research and science enrollement

- On the generalized arab and Muslim levels, there have been Arab astronauts, contributors to space missions, researchers, and financiers of space technological advances. On the generalized Muslim level , as can be expected, there are a number of Muslim countries that contain active cosmodromes or are otherwise actively engaged in local or international space projects.

In fact one of the earliest known instances of the invention of the rocket is attributed to a Muslim sultan.

(check out a chronology or timeline of muslim (islamic) science and technology that i started at Wikipedia)

This is to say nothing of the existing military aerospace expertise and tech that exists in nearly every muslim and every arab country (or at least most of the bigger ones).

In brief, the historical foundation and "roots" is not as desolate or sparse as I'd have thought more than a decade ago.

- A local program is great. But a much better program can be fashioned at the regional level - perhaps extending beyond just Arab league membership to include other sister-nations in the region both in the near east and Africa.

- an active large scientific program at the regional level would also have the welcome effect of improving and intensifying (if not vivifying) inter-campus communication and collaboration among the many Arab universities and programs. If i'm not mistaken, I believe Egypt can stand to benefit from such exchanges, particularly with the gulf and with the Maghreb - as well as hopefully all the others too. The intellectual potential alone is gigantic, provided infrastructure and meaningful direction.

- In broad technical terms, a space program need NOT necessarily have to set a goal like putting a man on an asteroid next to Le Petit Prince - or on the moon.

On the contrary, participation in a "space program" can choose to focus on one of the myriad technologies involved, from suit and tiling material design and manufacture, to optic instruments, to development of software systems, fault tolerance , simulations and so on.

So in addition to the core fun stuff of aerospace engineering, propulsion advances, vehicle design, etc. , a country like Egypt can participate (if it doesn't already) in projects with JAXA or ESA.

It can also consist in scholarships and grants for smarty pants graduates to pursue higher studies and training abroad.

- [update 23.V.MMIX] A space transportation committee should be established - not unlike similarly named institutions in industrialized nations. Just like analogs exist for air transportation, such a committee should at the least monitor all space (orbital and suborbital) transit above its territorial jurisdictions - as well as those transport projects that involve member states;
for instance, it would be an aggregation point for all arab satellite and other orbital assets.
Its role should be to monitor and where possible regulate space transport and transit in line with a general set of goals and objectives as determined in a given "space program" - or bet yet, a regional civil and commercial space strategy.

Perhaps such institutions exist, at the civic or mil. levels, perhaps not. What is important is the shaping of their roles and scope of regional and international cooperation based on a unified strategy.


- On the cultural side an orientation toward high tech should involve the promotion of local cultural artifacts connected to science, such as obivously , home-grown sci-fi , quality mass media programming in the sciences and tech , and not just imported stuff.

Crucially, it makes a big difference when a kid grows up and takes in science and knowledge from local resource - hopefully in good quality - because it is as though the kid inherits it from his/her own culture , rather than precede every scientific endeavour with that figurative stepping into the Anglophile culture to peruse its academic texts, or educational media.


- These are just some quick notes from a proposal for an arab space program that is in need of rewriting and organization, not to mention a proper venue for it.

... Read more

echo chamber dept. : last.fm reactions

27.Iv.1430

In response to the announcement at http://blog.last.fm/2009/04/22/radio-subscriptions, user feedback is ferocious - largely to to a feeling of exclusion in the west (and russia and poland) - the "3rd world" is more used to the exclusion : http://blog.last.fm/2009/04/22/radio-subscriptions#comments.

Meanwhile untried alternatives from comments include: Deezer, FineTune or Finemusic, Spotify, blip.fm, www.aupeo.com, and maybe Jamendo. (sorry mebbe i'll add link later)

+ of course the other sites where content is entirely user generated - like Jamendo - though there are no familiar pop or jazz classics there.

More alts from comments,

"hey!
10 free alternatives to the Last.fm Radio service.
StumbleAudio
Spotify
SHOUTcast
Musicovery
Deezer
iLike
Tunerec
Songza
Live365
RadioBeta

Anyone knows another option?"

"-Spotify
-Grooveshark
-Finemusic
-Jamendo (about indie artists)excellent!
-musicax.org (listen & download songs)

I won’t pay, record label should pay, not me."

"Alternatives to last.fm are:
limited to FR, UK, scandinavia:
spotify
US only:
slacker, pandora
I don’t know:
seeqpod, blip.fm
There’s more on alternativeto.net

Do consider that none of them are last.fm, you’ll have to pay for the real thing."

One particular comment resonated:

"I’m just confused as to why my 30 song free trial includes a big google ad right next to it, when ad-supported radio is apparently not feasable in Canada."

I'm getting all the ads all the time too here in Africa , so what gives? Isn't the whole idea of ads to bombard the user with ads on every page? so what do users in the UK/US/Germany do different from users elsewhere - don't we all get the ads equally? And is it because the ad buyers come from those three countries? Well, heck, Google's got offices in my country too !



And I was just thinking how last.fm could be turning the tide of the ominous clearchannels radio tentaclurum.

I still think it is fully equiped to turn the tide of trend like clearchannel radio and it should be supported - even with subscriptions - but without the crass discrimination.

But the key is to make a fully licensed perpetually free alternative clone to last.fm .

The economics of which still elusive of course, until money is somehow plugged out of the equation altogether, and all labor efficiently allocated and renumerated. hoohoo.

It's tough because unlike wikipedia or facebook,
a) content isn't user generated
b) last.fm has to pay license fees to the record disables. wikipedia and the other other idiots on't have to pay licensing fees to anyone. We give them all under very permissive free licenses.

RIAA is again the clear enemy here.

But the truth lies deeper in the general american moral fabric and the judaic and protestant cupidity embedded in it, distinct and far more severely degraded from European ethics.

anyweg.

Some more excerpts from the comments:


" ... Paying for a radio service is the most ridiculous thing ever."

"So what you are actually saying is: We’d love our foreign listeners to pay for our largest group of listeners, so they can listen for free.

Well, thanks for that, we’ll move on to the next best thing and make that as big as last.fm now is :)"

" ``scrobbling, recommendations, charts, biographies, events, videos etc will remain free in all countries”

thanks god biographies is still free… LOL"

"Well, it was fun while it lasted. Too bad I’ll need to use a proxy now to access last.fm now."

:)


"Do I charge for all the useful scrobble info I sent you? Do I charge for the artist descriptions I write? Do I charge for letting you stream my music? Just some random questions"

"Community site huh ? How a site like last.fm say that “i am a community site” ? Everyone have to pay exclude 3 “rich” country ?THE COMMUNITY MAKE LAST.FM , NOT LAST.FM ITSELF . NOT YOU “CBS” , YOU THINK YOU BOUGHT IT AND YOU CAN CHANGE IT TO WHAT YOU WANT ?"

"This is discrimination!!!"


"We’re managing a band, placed outside one of the “three lucky countries”. Since a new album is nearly ready, and in Lastfm we had a wide audience, we did decide to promote it there. But now… the audience will decrease drastically in most countries. So it is not a good idea to invest in promotion here anymore…

It’s a real shame, but I understand it’s a business, and they have to do whatever is better for them.

Good luck!"

"thank you guys, it was a good service… now i’ve to find something else…"


"I am gonna hear the last thirty tracks, jot down the titles of the cool songs and pieces I´ve discovered, as well as with the artists I didn´t know, find a way to keep in touch with the users I´ve made friends with, close my account and go to a peer to peer program to download all that music. SLSK anyone?

By the way,suggestions were made, Mark, but it seems that they didn´t matter. (check the other entries in the blog and their comments)

PS. Fuck last.fm"


"Just lost Launchcast a week ago in Canada. Now, on my birthday, I learn that I’ve lost Last.fm. Happy birthday to me. Sorry, guys, I haven’t been using Last.fm long enough to decide if it’s worth paying for, and I rather resent being forced to pay for something that is free in a few chosen countries."

"I repeat my idea: if users have to pay, ALL have to pay, not only ones that live outside USA and UK. I stop using it and, more important, I’ll stop scrobbling too! Your service LIVES with data scrobbled by users and I won’t give it for free.
Bye bye."

Too bad you already gave them your scrobbling data for free :) or :\

"+5000 подавитесь
eat you money, scumbags
Feel free to delete my account."

"Haha, i was playing Last.FM all day long, still ain’t noticing anything :)

If i keep it running without closing down, then i wont get cut of after 30+ songs? :D

It sucks that you can’t make a country specific ad campain, got to know a lots of new artists here.

The biggest bitches are the record labels, they just can’t get it, that there will be more downloading now, because ppl can’t listen via Last.FM anymore for free.

Just my 2 cents"

hehehe

"It’s fine that you start charging really, it’s just immensly retarted to know three countries don’t have to.

You can still get the radio’s from the API/site. So you can download the music elsewhere. (spotify and the like)

Three questions:
Does paying give you the extras old subscribers got (the playlists)?
Why not charge he UK/US/DE-trinity? If you need money you might as well. It doesn’t matter that you can advertise there, it would make it fair. (I would pay more for fair)
Why am I seeing ads?"

" ... It’s the whole “we all build this as a community, i alone (cbs) profit from it” attitude which i hate. ... To the last.fm core team, thanks guys you built something great, too bad the big boys ruined it. ..."

UPDATE 26.iv.2009:
So far slashdot and googlenews choose to ignore the issue - not very Internetizeny of them.


... Read more

film revu draft: medley

27.Iv.1430

Elizabeth' piracy is ok w/ Hollywood while Werner Herzog is let down on neutrinos. Not to mention Handel's conundrum.


Encounters at the end of the world (Werner Herzog, 2007)



Herzog gets invited to film in Antarctica. He offers us a delightful visit. He thankfully calls things as he sees them (and I appreciate how he sees things) - often very insightful though also often with those cognitive idiosyncracies (eg, a mixture of good intuition poetic idealism and naivety or ignorance) familiar from a certain caliber of stage and film directors (the masters).

(I have to admit , no matter how accomplished a stage or cinema auteur like Herzog are at the science of their own craft, sometimes when I read or hear them certain dissociations from reality appear, either as ignorance or naive or overly poetic idealism or just plain idiocy - a perspective different from what one gets when hearing scientists or mathematicians relfect on reality.)

Though often revealing and insightful, the discussion on neutrinos was a bit of a let down, because some important questions were not asked - though the director can hardly be faulted for that - it was the physicist who was weird.

This oeuvre combines some of the best of "nature" documentaries, and human subject ones offering a rare and coalescent mixture of both in one dose.

* * * * *

Farinelli (1994)

Here's a film that would have been popular in the culture club and duran duran scene, though over a decade late.

I'd be interesting in reading what Dr. David Yearsley (articles) would say about it.

There is no escaping that the music and is sublime (particularly the Handel piece), the costumes exquisite, and the direction and acting talent not wanting.

I guess this film is to castrati sopranos (shouldn't that be soprani instead?) what Amadeus was to composers.

* * * * *

Nixon/Frost (Ron Howard, 2008)

Despite any due misgivings about Ron Howard, in this mockumentary Frank Langella turns in a very engaging persona (all the more as I actually relate a bit - though unlike said Nixon, I never ordered any bugging or disgraced a high office).

I don't know whether his co-star, Michael Sheen delivers a believable David Frost , but at times parallels come up with people like Tony Blair - and generally, despite (or because of) being produced through american eyes , a distinctly british persona streams out with all its collusion with , dependence on and patronization of its transatlantic beast.

Actually, imagining for a moment that Watergate never happened, that Nixon never existed and that I knew nothing of it but what is recounted in this film, the scenario does make a fantastic drama which is very cleverly told.

And assuming Langella was interpreting a character from his own imagination, it would one of the deepest characters I have seen on film for a while - well since Il Castrato and Handel anyway :)

And in the end the step from normalcy into the abyss of evil is so close so easy that one can cross the line unaware and never be able to step back.

* * * * *

Just like the past decade has seen a franchise of Marvel (and DCComics) adaptations, there is another subgenre that recasts historical queens in modern feminist personas (read 90s/00s but also 30s hollywood cultural gender biases).

Thus we have the usual culprits

Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth: the golden age (2007)

Marie Antoinette (2006)

The affair of the necklace (2001)

The other Boleyn girl (2008) starring both the bipedal cow and the cross-eyed monster, in matching dresses to boot.

The tragedy is in all the presumptions about how the characters behaved , particularly in which circumstances they would formal or informal in their demeanour; removing any historical value - not even the costumes are reliable. In fact, they often seem over dressed for the occasion , as though the costumes are erroneously lifted out of portraits ignoring more mundane outfits - such as on hunt scenes.

juxtaposed with similar films from Europe or from other decades,

they differ from

Marie Antoinette (1938)

Fire over England (1937)

Anne of the 1000 days (1969)

Mary, Queen of Scots (1971)

though the trends of Hollywood-style feminism still exist.

They also differ from the more multilayered and more history-friendly renditions in

La Reine Margot (1994) of cors is a classic, with almost Manara- or Caligula-style dirtiness in both the sense of grit and eroticism. (on any given day, it seems a Medici film series would make for interesting softporn viewing).

Juana la loca (2006), which deserves to be another classic - if only for the rarity of films treating the spanish-Dutch connection via the common Habsberg dynasty.

The order of colonization was Spain/portugal, then Nederlands due to the Spanish/port. habsberg connection, then the covetous copycat Britain in the 17th++ cent., then France 18th+, then Italy Belgium Germany and Terroristan in the 19th/20th cent. Austria and Prussia had their outre-mer adventures too in the 19th century - though rather timidly shortlived.

Meanwhile Hollywood treatments of the 15th century queen of England (Fire over England, Elizabeth: Golden Age) have no problem with her knighted pirates plundering and looting Spanish fleets (however ill-gained in 1st place) like (sirs) Walter Raleigh and Francis Drake - the former put to death after her demise. (At least Black Adder II made fun of them).

Yet it may not be long (maybe) before Hollywood expresses how much it gets its knickers tied in a knot over the modern day hoax of somalien piraten.

... Read more

rearranged table of graphviz dot attributes

23.Iv.1430

http://augmented5th.dyndns.org/doku/doku.php?id=dot_attributes_tables is a Re-arranged version of the graphviz document: the "Graphviz Node, Edge and Graph Attributes" table page thing.


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Arch & عرش

23.IV.1430

... ... Read more

Etymo note: Macabre & مقابر

23.IV.1430

مقابر (Maqaber) is the Arabic plural of Maqbara , or tomb.

Remaining text. ... Read more

note on gothic fiction

19.Iv.1430

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