<insert crazy ramblings here>

The Google Operating System is being targeted at netbooks, and the core of it will be Google's browser Chrome, and Google's Apps.

But the point of netbooks is surly their portability. You won't always have a net connection. You can't edit spreadsheets if the connection goes down, as I found out when trying to do some stuff on a train on a 3G connection.

See how much of the UK isn't covered by 3G.

I think you'd be better off sticking to a traditional office suite until they improve the offline support.

Prompted by sbisson's musings

I recently read "The Fabric of the Cosmos" by Brian Greene. It contained a rather brilliant description of the Delayed Choice Double Slit experiment, in which effect precedes cause. Rather damaging to the notion of free will I thought.

This led to me think about an Asimov story where such an experiment takes place. They wait until the experiment says that water was/will be poured on this in 24 hours, and then seal the container. They find that the universe conspires to ensure that there always was/will be someone to do just that. Be it a Janitor spilling something, or a junior lab technician not understanding, or something more.

I was wondering what would happen if the same thing was done with this Delayed Choice test. So I started writing it up as popular science essay, that I was aiming at being understood by anyone without a science background.

I was comparing this to the Bell's inequality experiment, when I finally realised what I'd missed. In the Bell's inequality tests, non-local quantum entanglement cannot be used to send information faster than light because it involves random processes, and you need to combine information from detectors on both sides of the experiment before you can see the non-local connection.

Similarly, there is no way to send information back in time using the Delayed Choice test, as the only way to show that effect has preceded cause is to combine information from both detectors at the cause and effect time of the experiment before you can see the non-temporal connection.

{ETA} This makes the weirdness of quantum mechanics really clear to me. I knew that entanglement meant that entangled particles have some faster-than-light spacial connection, but hadn't made the obvious connection that they therefore must have some faster-than-light chronological connection.

I think this implies that all events must be predetermined.

Voucher Codes and Money Saving Expert.

Thanks to alexmc

A month ago (before I left) I was playing catch up at work, to ensure the hols would not be revoked. While I was away I only had a few evenings with net access. And I'm now back at work playing catch up. So still not reading LJ unfiltered. Anything I've missed while I've been away?

{Redacted}

I finally finished the little blighter.



Beware you dreamers and sensitive souls, for he will nuzzle your brains, and drive you mad!



The least bit of knowledge about his horrendous (acrylic) nature would drive your sanity from our body faster than I can drop a stitch. That said here's the pattern that came to me from no where:

( Pattern for Conical Cranium Crochet Cthulhu )


Conical Cranium Crochet Cthulhu Pattern by cdave is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

{ETA: correction to Key}

Sigh.

I'm fed up with this J-spam. If you've had any recently could you go comment on this support request IPs and idea's especially welcome.

If you don't know what I'm talking about by 125.14.xxx.xxx, 125.15.xxx.xxx or Lewis then casadetodd has a good explanation.

Awesome.

There was serious science fiction, silly fun, fandom, crafting, and beer galore. All that and yet it was very lightly programmed with at most two rooms and scheduled breaks to go and take advantage of the incredibly cheap food.

On a more personal note I think I can no longer call myself a neo fan. I recognised about 2/3 of the members names before the con, and actually managed to talk to quite a lot of people over the weekend I'd only really nodded in passing at before.

I didn't manage to see the pool that everyone seemed to be raving about, or much of the grounds and bunnies. However I don't think it's fair to blame that entirely on my naive desire to do the programme. It's more like the 7 hours so I spent cutting, folding, getting confused, refolding, getting gin, rerefolding, and gluing together the spectacular behemoth that was the papercraft Howl's Moving Castle.

I've got the first three weeks of July June! off to go sailing round the crinkly bits of Norway, and as such have to get a load of work done in advance. Combined with the fact that I have a three day reconnect thing this week means I have almost no free time. I've barely touched LJ this week, and while I may catch up next week, I'll almost certainly fall behind again.

[Poll #1403276]
{Edit: correct the month!}

Augusto Boal, the Brazilian theater director and playwright, died last Saturday.

I'd not heard his name before a month ago, but I feel that I should say a brief word.

I ran across it while doing some reaserch I was doing for an odd idea for a Kids programme item at Eastercon.

The programme item was "Zip, Boing, Bounce!" AKA Not Drinking Games. The idea being that a lot of the drinking games I played at university could be adapted to make them suitable for children. In fact given that I ran the Physics Society drinking circle, I was used to playing these with people who wouldn't drink heavily.

While trying to write down a list of them all, I remembered that I played a few of these before Uni. At drama clubs. From the ages of about 4 to 17 I went to a series drama clubs / youth theatres. Most sessions would run the same way. Initially some physical running around games to get warmed up. Then some sit down games (and in one case Thai Chi) to calm down and focus, and then either some improv work, or rehearsal depending on if a performance was coming up. I owe a fair chunk of my confidence to these classes.

So I went to look up some warm up exercises for actors to see if there were any I could use, and found that almost all my favourite games, from across all the different clubs I'd been in, were listed in Games for Actors and Non-Actors by Augusto Boal. He was a massive influence on Community Theatre.

Looking up a little more about him, I find that he was political activist too. "Seen as a threat to the dictatorship that ruled Brazil between 1964 and 1985, he was jailed and tortured before being exiled to Argentina."

I really want to learn more about this man, and wish I'd thought to do so while he was still with us.

Here's my online contact details.

Would you mind awfully providing yours in a (screened) comment below?

I've just read about a friend losing their phone, and borrowing a laptop to grab their address book off the internet. Which reminded me I haven't completed my project to centralise my address book.

Also, I've just signed up to twitter, and dreamwidth, so I can follow your posts elsewhere, but haven't been keeping track of announcements of when people set these things up.

Also, also, I'm trying to get a paper fanzine done, so if you give me a postal address you'll get a fanzine!