All Articles
On Europe, the Left, and the Future
For those of you who weren’t aware, there are currently elections going on for the European Parliament. What is interesting about this election, in particular, is that the more radical parties are expected to do well. This includes the socialist parties to the left of social democracy. In this post, in addition to some general comments on the European Parliament, I discuss the policies of these parties and my thoughts on their future.
Gnuplotting, LaTeXing, and Other Made Up Verbs
Anyone who knows me in person and has seen me do any amount of work in physics knows that my preferred graphing software is Gnuplot. The only place where I’ve every really had a problem with Gnuplot is when it comes to including special characters and math in axis labels. What is needed is a way for Gnuplot to be able to work with LaTeX notation.
A Bit of News
As you may have noticed, there have been several blog articles released at the same time, today. The day before I went home for Christmas, the Raspberry Pi on which I host this blog refused to start and I couldn’t figure out how to fix it before it was time to leave. Also, I would like to draw your attention to a new link at the top of this page entitled Software.
On Socialists and Scotsmen
Us socialists are often accused of preaching a failed ideology; one which has been shown to inevitably result in totalitarianism and impoverishment. I tend to respond by saying that I don’t see how socialism can have failed when the world has yet to see a socialist society. The inevitable objection that is given, not only by the right but also by the centre-left, is that this is an example of the “No True Scotsman Fallacy.” However, I feel that they are misunderstanding my point.
Denouncing the Dumb Diatribe on the Discontinuation of Door-to-Door Delivery
As you may know, Canada Post recently announced that they will be making some changes. Two in particular are of note: a price increase on stamps and the phasing out of door-to-door delivery in urban areas. Predictably, the left has had a conniption over all of this. In particular, they have denounced the elimination of door-to-door delivery. Given my politics, you may be expecting a similar reaction here. But there you would be wrong.
What I Did Over Christmas Break
Thanks to the wonders of the Internet I now watch almost all movies and TV shows via my computer using an HDMI cable to play them on my television set. The problem with this arrangement is that it prevents me from using my computer for anything else while the video is playing. So, with the extra time I have over the Christmas break I set to work designing a program that, when paired with a Raspberry Pi will allow me to over come this. I present to you: Conetroller.
Insomnia Sucks
Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve written one of these. It’s not that I haven’t had things to write about. But, alas, I’ve been too busy. The only reason that I’m writing right now, really, is because I can’t sleep. It’s becoming something of a problem for me.
On the Abuse of Exponentiation in Colloquial Communication
Or, to put it another way, “Why I Hate it When People Say Things ‘Grow Exponentially.’” Something which I have been finding increasingly irksome is when people talk about something “growing exponentially,” when all that they really mean is that it is growing really quickly. I do wish that they could get this in their heads: just because it’s growing quickly doesn’t mean that it’s growing exponentially!
Back for Another Year of Physics and Phun
Well, it’s that time of year again. The air is turning cold (or, in today’s case, rainy), the last pay-cheque from my summer job went into my back account, I’ve made sure I’m stocked up on all of the supplies I’ll need, and another semester is about to start. I’ll be entering the third and penultimate year of my astrophysics degree (my god, it’s scary how quickly the time passes). I guess I’m supposed to be dreading this time of year, but I’m really not.
New Computer, New Linux Distribution
My old laptop was dying and I wanted to replace it before the semester began. The new laptop came with Windows 8 installed and I was not having that, so the choice now became what version of Linux to use. The obvious choice would have been Linux Mint, which I have used ever since moving to Linux. But another Linux distribution which I’d heard interesting things about is called Arch Linux.
