Author: geoff

Alec's on the move

Two updates this morning. First, here the latest podcast from Alec (316KB MP3, 1:45 long). Secondly, Alec’s on the move: he’s being transported to England by road (which presumably means via the Chunnel – aren’t they going bankrupt or something?), and should be in Birmingham by this evening.
UPDATE from friends in the UK:

6.40pm Monday 17th July [BST, of course] – Alec has just spoken to me – he STILL HASN’T LEFT the ambulance being over 2 hours late! He is getting very very cross.
Before a Doctor came in, he did ask me to put all visitors off until Thursday at the earliest as when it happens it is going to be a difficult tiring journey, and he would like at least through Wednesday to recuperate. So please (much as he wants to see folk) hold the enthusiasm.

Latest Alec news

From Bart:

I went to Lille earlier today and visited Alec — he’s doing quite well (I found it very noticable how his breathing is now much more relaxed than it was at the beginning of the week). We walked in on him enjoying his lunch, the dessert portion of which vanished extremely quickly…
Alec is, however, bored out of his mind as there’s little to do; he listens to his iPod, does some exercises (some for his lungs and some for the rest of his body, to retain mobility), looks at the shiny coloured things in his room, or the clock, or the emergency light over his bed… all in all, not the most exciting environment.
(He’s in need of his connectivity fix, so here’s to hoping he gets to Birmingham soon… and that they have wifi or so there)
He still has his drain in (because the insurance company wants it there should they finally repatriate him), which means he still has an IV in, and which also means a nurse comes in every morning and gets blood for testing (not overly pleasant).
His leg, in a kind of supporint harnass/cast thing, seems to be causing him no trouble (as long as it’s left in peace), so he has now added an ankle-mobility part to his exercise routine.
I have a new “Alec’s adventures in Lille” podcast and will send it to Geoff for posting tomorrow (I can’t get it off my phone right now so won’t be able to send it today – sorry for the delay)

Billmon on the no-win situation in the Middle East

His depressingly persuasive analysis concludes:

In the past, no matter how bad things got in territories, Israeli governments always have had the option of backing off and leaving bad enough alone – relying on the Army or, post-Oslo, the PA to keep a lid on the situation. That was fine as long as the objective was to grow the settlements and quietly tighten Israel’s control over the land and all its resources. But now that the goal is essentially a second partition, Israeli politicians are finding out the hard way that they no longer have the luxury of malign neglect. After six years of pretending they don’t need a Palestinian negotiating partner, they’ve suddenly discovered, much to their horror, that they need one desperately – but have managed to eliminate all the possible candidates.

(Tip o’ the hat to Tim.)

"A playground full of gangs of angry eight year olds"

There’s a thoughtful piece by Andrew Brown over at the Guardian’s CiF site about why on-line forums are so full of polarized, angry, hate-filled people. “Technology alone can’t really explain the madness of the online world. It is the social aspect that turns it into a playground full of gangs of angry eight year olds. Above all, it is the sense – the hope – that we have an admiring audience out there.”
His piece is followed by a variety of comments, some thoughtful, some angry, and some that (inevitably) start out as a parody of what he was talking about and slide into the real thing. To me, the saddest responses are typified by someone with the ID Scrittipolitti: “I really don’t see the problem. CIF is certainly no more abusive and angry than everyday life. “ If true (and how could it be?), what unremittingly depressing lives such people must live….

Relo questions: Flexcar

Here’s the first in a series of questions related to my move to Seattle.
I’m thinking about going car-less in Seattle, and relying on Flexcar when I actually need a car. Public transportation seems pretty good, and I may well be able to find an apartment in walking distance of work. Advantages: no garage or parking costs, no anxiety about car theft. (Chris seemed to have particularly bad luck when he lived in Seattle.) Disadvantages: less flexibility, can’t drive outside the lower 48 (i.e. no trips to Vancouver or Victoria).
So what do you think? Right now I’m planning to leave DARWIN in Massachusetts; I can always change my mind in a few months….

And now, the envelope please….

It’s official (or it will be as soon as FedEx does its thing): I’m going to work for Amazon.com. I shall be working with Werner Vogels, the Amazon CTO. My start date is August 14; I’ll be heading off to Seattle on August 8. Lots to do between now and then.
I’m very excited by this job, and just a little bit intimidated too. For years I’ve been involved in projects at Sun which focussed on “distributed computing at large scale”. Those of you who heard Rob Gingell or Greg Papadopoulos (or me) speaking on the subject will know that we were convinced that the reality of “large scale” would continue to surprise people. (Shades of Hofstadter’s Law, or Douglas Adams on space.) Well, now I get to deal with “really, really large scale” – unmediated, no excuses, in the flesh. It’s challenging. It’s… well, exhilarating. And it’s a wonderful opportunity.
More anon. Right now, I’m going to crack open a bottle of champagne!
—
P.S. Many thanks to all of you who helped with this, especially Dan, Cassandra, Wendy, and Rakhel.

Shine on You Crazy Diamond

Syd Barrett dies.

ASTRONOMY DOMINE
Lime and limpid green, a second scene
A fight between the blue you once knew.
Floating down, the sound resounds
Around the icy waters underground.
Jupiter and Saturn, Oberon, Miranda and Titania.
Neptune, Titan, Stars can frighten.
Blinding signs flap
Flicker, flicker, flicker blam. Pow, pow.
Stairway scare, Dan Dare who’s there?
Lime and limpid green, the sounds around the icy waters under
Lime and limpid green, the sounds around the icy waters underground