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And another Friday starts to draw to a close

By lm (Fri May 30, 2008 at 03:57:00 PM EST) (all tags)

Not much here to see. Please move along.

Linked to by AL Daily is a superb article in the New Yorker about the history of modern radical Islam.

Geraldine Ferraro says of uneducated white folks It's not racism that is driving them, it's racial resentment. I at a bit of a loss at trying to imagine a way of resenting someone based on race that isn't racism.

If I had an extra $120 lying around, I would give this light bulb a whirl. 800 lumens at under 8 watts is impressive. I tried LED bulbs a year or two ago and was less than impressed at the dimness, directional nature of LEDs and the quality of the color. Look's like nice advances have taken place on all three fronts. But at quite a cost. This puppy is over twice the price of the bulbs I tried out earlier.

A friend sent to me a link to a paen to Natlie Portman. I'm almost surprised it hasn't made /. yet. Or maybe not. Or maybe it has and I just missed it. While I do some mild trolling over that way, I don't read it regularly anymore.

Both the progeny were dining with friends last night so Xanthippe and I went out to eat all by our lonesomes. We tried out an simulacrum of a British pub. As you could get just about anything on the menu deep fried, I suspect it was somewhat authentic. I had bangers and mash washed down with a pint of Old Speckled Hen and a dram of 14 year old Oban. Xanthippe had fish and chips washed down with Bass Ale.

As mentioned in The Hole, earlier this week, I was offered a one year, non-renewable scholarship to The Catholic University of America for the purpose of graduate study in the school of philosophy. Despite there being no guarantee of future funding, I'm diving in. It will be an adventure. I may very well fail. But I've got to try. The interesting thing is telling some of my friends and cow-orkers. They frown and their face falls and they struggle to smile while mumbling something that sounds vaguely like `I'm so excited for you.' Others immediately smile and shake my hand, `congratulations.'

< A good sammie can almost make a meh movie good | Grozny: a terrible place to live >

And another Friday starts to draw to a close | 24 comments (24 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

800 lumens == 60 Watt incandescent by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #1 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:02:58 PM EST

Not sure it makes financial sense yet but the geek in my wants to buy one. Good thing they are out of stock.

I've never understood the attraction to Portman. She's a decent actress, but I've never found her particularly attractive on the "actress" scale.
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_{ウセーバラケダ}

Turn in your geek card. by nightflameblue (2.00 / 0) #9 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:32:22 PM EST

You're no longer welcome here.

[ Parent ]

Correlation, meet causation by marvin (2.00 / 0) #10 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:37:03 PM EST

While Star Wars fanboi = geek.
Geek <> Star Wars fanboi (for all values of geek).

Just sayin'

Maybe it's the hot grits talking, but she never really appealed to me either, even naked and petrified.

[ Parent ]

: But then I'd be repeating myself. by nightflameblue (1.00 / 1) #12 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:39:54 PM EST

Honestly, there are hotter wimmin's out there. But after seeing her nipped out in the white stretch suit in the middle of the desert my opinion of her rose.
She's more "cute" than "hot" though. Which makes her ridiculously skinny physique almost forgiveable. Almost.

[ Parent ]

My 60 watt bulbs at home are 850 to 900 lumens by lm (2.00 / 0) #14 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:51:11 PM EST

But it's pretty close. The big question is the color of the light. If it's heavy on the blue, 800 lumens may seem like less.

There is no more degenerate kind of state than that in which the richest are supposed to be the best.
Cicero, The Republic
[ Parent ]

Let's see by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #2 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:07:27 PM EST

30000 hrs for $120 = 0.4 cents per hour.

Incandescent is $3 for 1500 hrs = 0.2 cents per hour.

A CFL is $12 for 10000 hrs = 0.12 cents per hour.

So not quite there yet. I can't wait until it is, though.
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_{ウセーバラケダ}

Err by R343L (2.00 / 0) #4 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:13:38 PM EST

Shouldn't you include electricity costs at current market rates?

"There will be time, there will be time / To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet." -- Eliot
[ Parent ]

: energy? by MillMan (2.00 / 0) #11 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:38:03 PM EST

Oh come on, it's an infinite resource.
When I'm imprisoned as an enemy combatant, will you blog about it?
[ Parent ]
: Err... by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #17 Fri May 30, 2008 at 05:07:54 PM EST

oops.
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_{ウセーバラケダ}
[ Parent ]

LCA by marvin (2.00 / 0) #7 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:20:45 PM EST

Lifecycle cost assessment. In addition to electricity (which R343L beat me to pointing out), you really should consider the increased administrative and operating costs of changing bulbs, and purchasing bulbs. Offsetting this, you should also include the applicable discount rate for the extra capital costs, as income you could have earned from investing the extra $117 you spend on an LED needs to be part of the LCA.

Of course, I'm too lazy to do this myself, but it looks like it is getting closer. Wake me up when the bulb and the electronics (ie, if there is a ballast similar to a CF) are separate, interchangable, standardized components.

[ Parent ]

: Costs by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #18 Fri May 30, 2008 at 05:09:16 PM EST

Valid for a company, but given that I currently pay a gym to take time and effort, I think wasting a few calories on changing bulbs isn't actually a cost.
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_{ウセーバラケダ}
[ Parent ]

Congrats by ana (2.00 / 0) #3 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:13:08 PM EST

and good luck with the schooling. Who knows, my jorb might bring me to the DC area sometime, so I can buy you a beer.

Also, why is "cool white" twice as hot as "warm white," color temperature wise?

"And this ... is a piece of Synergy." --Kellnerin

Wow. That's awesome. Questions. by marvin (2.00 / 0) #5 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:18:02 PM EST

I admit to being fairly narrow minded when it comes to faith / religion, and I've always thought that it made more sense to complete religious education within the same sect that you worship.

So you're Orthodox, going to a Catholic University. Do doctrinal differences between the two make a difference at all? Will you be an outsider? Of course, I'm making a huge assumption that you are you aiming to become Father lm in the Orthodox church, and if so, does study at a Catholic school taint you in any way?

Cool, I just used "taint" in a real sentence. If you're not gunning to be Father lm, what does a philosophy degree add for you?

Anyways, good on ya, you're a braver man than I. Returning to school probably isn't in the cards for me, especially with a young family. But then, there is nothing that I want to study enough right now to justify a few years of tuition + lost income. Maybe in a decade or so....

I doubt I'd ever be Father lm by lm (2.00 / 0) #15 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:59:41 PM EST

I have too many canonical impediments to receive holy orders. While it is true that the synod of bishops could make an exception for me, it's not something I'm seeking. The real goal is be a cranky old professor putting the fear of Plato into undergrads.

Which leads to the point this won't be religious instruction. While it is true that a priest, and probably a Jesuit priest at that, is the dean of the school of philosophy at CUA, they have one of the top ranked programs in the English Speaking world for medieval and byzantine era philosophy.

But it true that were my goal to become a priest, getting a Ph.D. from a Jesuit university wouldn't do much for me. I'd still have to go to Saint Vladimir's, Saint Tikon's or Holy Cross to pick up an MA in Divinities. That said, in the US, it wouldn't count against me in most jurisdictions. There are a few Eastern Orthodox groups that are vehemently anti-Latin but those groups are relatively small.

There is no more degenerate kind of state than that in which the richest are supposed to be the best.
Cicero, The Republic
[ Parent ]

: Fear of Plato by marvin (2.00 / 0) #20 Fri May 30, 2008 at 05:23:21 PM EST

Sounds like as good a reason as any to major in science.
I've been taking "The Republic" in small doses on the bus for a while now, but the whole community creche thing leaves me cold, as does the class structure.
Thanks for the reply. I've known that you were in school part time for a while now, but don't remember / never saw what the end goal was before.

[ Parent ]

Hmmm by Gedvondur (2.00 / 0) #6 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:19:42 PM EST

Well a mixed reaction is normal when getting a degree like the one you are pursuing, unless you intend to tech afterwards.

Most philosophy students who do not teach end up with jobs that involve "Would you like fries with that?"

I think that there is a touch of jealously too. You are getting the opportunity to pursue a dream, a scholar's dream.

Heck, I'm a little jealous too. :-)

Good luck with it, lm. You deserve it.

Gedvondur
"If you do not sin, then you too may some day float like a big pink Goodyear blimp of The Lord." -theboz

: Arrogant SOB that I am by lm (4.00 / 1) #16 Fri May 30, 2008 at 05:02:25 PM EST

I like to think it's my personal magnetism that they'll miss. Let's just say that the division between the reactions can be almost (but not quite) be cleanly divided along gender lines. I'll leave determining which gender predominantly gives which reaction as an exercise for the reader.
There is no more degenerate kind of state than that in which the richest are supposed to be the best.
Cicero, The Republic
[ Parent ]

The Siege of Mecca (book) by cam (2.00 / 0) #8 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:27:29 PM EST

IIRC had a good introduction to what was driving modern extremist islam too.

cam
Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic

Ferraro knows she isn't racist by MillMan (2.00 / 0) #13 Fri May 30, 2008 at 04:42:16 PM EST

for the same reasons Larry Craig knows he isn't gay.

When I'm imprisoned as an enemy combatant, will you blog about it?

: No, she's right! by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #19 Fri May 30, 2008 at 05:10:48 PM EST

Running Obama would merely be mindless tokenism, something Democrats like Ferraro know is wrong.
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_{ウセーバラケダ}
[ Parent ]

Old Speckled Hen by Herring (2.00 / 0) #21 Fri May 30, 2008 at 07:15:58 PM EST

I'm not sure how that would travel. Or was it bottled rather than draught?

I used to work fairly close to the Morlands brewery in Abingdon. I think they've been taken over now though - possibly by Greene King.

After dropping Small Boy at the cub camp on Saturday, I decided to take Mrs. H. to visit Ditchling where my grandmother used to live. We had a pub lunch there are I had a pint of this which I reckon would be a fantastic summer beer. If I wasn't driving ...

I'm English, and as such I crave disappointment. - Bill Bailey

: It was draught, seems to have travelled fine by lm (2.00 / 0) #22 Fri May 30, 2008 at 10:15:41 PM EST

If I go back, I'll keep any eye out for any Dark Star brews. The number of kegs this place had on tap was insane. Fortunately, they've got the volume so they remain decently fresh.
There is no more degenerate kind of state than that in which the richest are supposed to be the best.
Cicero, The Republic
[ Parent ]

Congrats on the scholarship by Scrymarch (2.00 / 0) #23 Sun Jun 01, 2008 at 04:30:01 AM EST

What's the structure of the course, some kind of MPhil/PhD thing? Any coursework or is it research from the start?
_{The Political Science Department of the University of Woolloomooloo}

: Mostly coursework up front by lm (4.00 / 1) #24 Sun Jun 01, 2008 at 03:35:08 PM EST

About half way through the program, I can apply to take a few different tests and be awarded an MA should I so desire. The chief reason for doing so would be to try to pull in some adjunct teaching gigs at area colleges. Second half is mostly research.
There is no more degenerate kind of state than that in which the richest are supposed to be the best.
Cicero, The Republic
[ Parent ]

And another Friday starts to draw to a close | 24 comments (24 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback