The Congressional Database and the Townhall Meeting

Apparently all our elected representatives, at least on the national level, have a database system to track their constituents.  They are required to select from a list of preapproved programs because of security issues.

I call my representative, Carbajal of CA 24, once a week to find out what his position is on impeachment and on removing rapists from the supreme court.  The phone is answered promptly and there is always a nice person who takes my message and says that someone will get back to me, but they never do.  

But this time it was different.  First, the nice person at the office told me that he was at a "townhall meeting" with Carbajal last March and that at the time that Carbajal was cautious on the whole topic but had not made up his mind either way.  That was not what I wanted to hear, of course, but it was helpful because the primary goal here was to find out what my representative thought.

Second, just for fun, I asked the person in my Congressman's office if he could tell how many times I had called.  And he could!  I had called 8 times plus today, for a total of 9.  

I think that this is mostly good.  They are supposed to keep track of what their constituents think, and it should be computerized in this day and age.

Anita and Willem Lijpers from Holland

On my way back from Big Sur, I stopped to look at an astonishing view and ended up talking to a nice person who was doing the same. Her name was Anita, and with Willem her husband, she was on a cross country trip. They are from Holland, they visited their son in Virginia, and drove across country ending in Los Angeles in a few days. These pictures do not do them justice. They flagged me down 10 miles down the road to offer me coffee. Isnt that nice? This is what I used to get from travelling, meeting new people. It makes me sad that I am unlikely to see them again. No, I dont know why they look so sad, but I think it is an artifact of my bad photography.

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I so enjoyed meeting them and it makes me sad I am unlikely to see them again.

What is the Value of Sponsoring Research Early

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Imagine the following situation.  A company is spun off of a major university computer science department.  The company has many core technologies, but it is primarily in the area of searching very large databases and machine learning. The key technology that enabled the success of this company was original to the graduate students when they were at the University.

But it turns out that this university was the recipient of decades of grants in these areas and others long before these areas were practical.  And because of those grants, the University had a stellar reputation and a faculty second to none, all of which was a benefit to the graduate students that started the company.

So.  Did that long term research, those grants long before it was practical, contribute to the success of this huge new company?  Or was that company sui generis and without any debt whatsoever (morally speaking) to those who came before? 

This question is not about money.  I couldnt care less about the money.  This question is about the intellectual history of the field and the value of doing long term early research.  

I thought I knew the answer, but a good friend with much better research credentials than I am likely to ever have says that there is no debt whatsoever.

 
 

Remembering Those who Betrayed America

It can be very difficult to remember later the details of events like we are experiencing.  So I will from time to time write about these events/things/whatever even though I have nothing too profound to say about them.

One artifact of this collapse of the American government is that whenever something happens, there is some seemingly sane person who writes an editorial saying the most ridiculous things, but saying them with a straight face.  These editorials masquerade as news and are published straight faced in Politico, the Hill, the Wall Street Journal, Lawfareblog.

And they say things like this.  "The Russians didnt help Trump.  Obama betrayed us to the Russians, not Trump.  There are no grounds for the House to request anything from Trump. Mueller totally exonerated Trump."  

All of these things are lies, and they know it.  Why do they do it?  Here is one theory.  They are demonstrating loyalty so they can be appointed as a Federal Judge and then maybe the Supreme Court.  

It worked for Kavanaugh.

Proletarian Revolution for Kids

Avengers Endgame (almost no spoilers)

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I have seen this movie and I have read a variety of reviews online and I feel compelled to fill in some gaps for those who are, shamefully, basically completely ignorant of this genre of entertainment but feel compelled to write about it, or talk about it, endlessly.

First, this is a Superhero movie, people, so get a grip.  Its not poetry, and it is not independent filmmaking.  But what it is, rather than what you want it to be, is still very impressive.

Second, it is not a standalone movie.  It is an ensemble piece based on about 7 decades of a form of children's literature known as the comic book and a decade of two films / year based on that literature.   Some of these films are better than others, true.  It might be useful to you to understand something about that genre and these films before going to see this movie.

Third, as far as I can tell, the directors, writers and actors are completely sincere in their desire to deliver an entertaining movie that is the finale of that series of films.  It may not be perfect, but at least they are not crass which is more than I can say about the exploitation and insincerity I see over at "Lucasfilm".

There are many more things we could say here, things that I liked and did not like, etc.  But I will mention one last thing because it seems to come up a lot.  Resorting to a form of "time travel" (its more than that, but nevermind) is a mostly legitimate approach to the plot lines in this genre.  It is a peril filled narrative choice, however, and like any story that uses this device it is filled with paradox.  I didnt mind even if I was confused and had to suspend disbelief once or twice.

Like I said at the beginning, this is a Superhero movie.  Get a grip and go with it.

Avengers!   Assemble.

Siggraph 2019 Poster Submission

Yeah, I made my deadline.

The 800 lb Gorilla of Setup and Payoff

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The 800 lb gorilla of "set up and payoff" is coming to a theatre near you on Thursday or Friday. Fan service of the type that audiences have loved since forever will be on display in this Marvel magnum opus. The test of character. The noble sacrifice. The desperate struggle to defend the innocent and right the wrongs that have so crushed the hope of billions. Sure that is the way it is in fiction. But how about real life? Will the Democrats stand up and confront Thanos whose evil and corruption in league with the Republicans, mutant and degraded lifeforms, so desperately need to be destroyed? 

Its sad, but I dont think so.

Internet Protocol (Not What You Think)

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Nobody knows how to be polite on the Internet.  What are the proper hours for email?  What are the proper hours for texting?  If I know you dont read email, but you dont want to be texted, then that means that you are essentially saying "dont contact me".  Fine, but what if I am supposed to be working with you.  Another person says "dont send me attachments" and gets angry when you do, but you did not know he had this rule (and no one else does).  Another person says "dont email me when you are angry" but I wasnt angry, but if you say that they get angry and accuse you of not caring about their feelings.

So everyone has their rules and they expect the other party to know them and to comply.

Is this reasonable?  Is this treating the other party with minimal respect, or is it just self indulgent and self entitled?  In none of the cases are my opinions or feelings on the matter sought.  I am informed "how it will be" and if I dont like it, I can stop talking to them.

Which ultimately may be the best solution.

Isnt it great how the Internet has made communication so much better?

Donation to Elizabeth Warren

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I just sent another $50 to the presidential campaign fund of Elizabeth Warren.  She got out in front and called for the impeachment of that obvious traitor and criminal in the White House.  We need someone as president who has some balls.  Either Bernie or Elizabeth work for me as President, but I am rewarding Ms. Warren because she was not a coward like so many Democrats on this issue.  I encourage you to do the same.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/19/politics/elizabeth-warren-donald-trump-impeachment-proceedings/index.html