Monday, September 22, 2003

I think I need to admit I am totally in love with Amazon.com. Not really in love, but I have so many wonderful expectations.
I was an early adopter of internet shopping because of Amazon. I'm not sure when I made my first purchase but it was back in the days when dial-up was king.
The reason I shop at Amazon is because Amazon knows me as a customer. In retail, there's no other store that I am getting that from right now.
Take book shopping. I generally decide to shop for a book when I come across a title or author while I am doing something else. If I take this information to Big Box Retail Book Store (and I am lucky) I can find a specific book I am looking for. Generally, I wind up spending a lot of time looking at the bargain book racks and taking home some great deal that I'll never open.
Thanks to Amazon I've found enjoyable books that I wouldn't have even know to look for at Big Box Retail Book Store. That's the kind of shopping experience I come back for.

Wednesday, September 17, 2003

Growing up in Las Vegas I always wanted to be a Thunderbird pilot. On the 14th we nearly lost one. Capt. Chris Stricklin (USAFA '94) ejected with minor injuries just before his F-16 crashed. I came across this article with a video (KTVB.COM | Idaho News | Idaho News on Demand) and these other videos: (video1, video2.)

Friday, September 12, 2003

Friday
I'm all over the place today; mentally and netwise. It's Friday after all. I came across NationMaster.com. It's fantastic. You can find out things like which countries are the most taxed. Like the CIA Factbook done with the capabilities of the internet in mind. (The scope of these sites only overlap on country statistics.) Also, check out the BBC Country Profiles if you're looking for background info of countries.
Sam Brown at explodingdog is drawing wonderful things.

Thursday, September 11, 2003


How rich are you? >>


I'm loaded.
It's official.
I'm the 53,095,965 richest person on earth!



The Global Rich List is trying to remind us of how well off we really are. (And get us to donate to CARE International.)







Wednesday, September 10, 2003

You will find on this page a reminder of 9-11-01. Watch it and pass it on.

Monday, September 08, 2003

Warren Zevon died yesterday Sunday, September 7, 2003. I first listened to Warren Zevon in the summer of 1998. A friend had a copy of Excitable Boy and it played in the car for months. I fell in love with the song Rolland the Headless Thompson Gunner. I can't say why for sure. It will always remind me of the cost of war; in success or failure. I once heard a statistic (while standing at the Vietnam Memorial) that more Vietnam vets have committed suicide than were killed in action. We ask our soldiers to kill, die, and for many, kill themselves.
On his farewell album The Wind, with a wry wink at death, Zevon covers Bob Dylan's Knockin' On Heavens Door. The album has received excellent reviews and its great.
Peace, Paul

Wednesday, September 03, 2003

I finished Evolving the Mind by A. G. Cairns-Smith a few days ago. For me it was rather ponderous. I may need to re-read it.

I picked this book because I came across a quote of Cairns-Smith's in Darwin Among the Machines by George B. Dyson. [A history of computing.]

As I understand it Cairns-Smith proposes that the conscious mind, the parts of mind that have feelings and effect behavior, are like a macro-quantum mechanical effect. (i.e. superfluidity or coherent light lasers) He argues that the mind is an evolved 'physical' phenomenon but its clear to him that our models of physicality are insufficient to know the mind. Indeed our misunderstanding of our world is the most substantial impression I took from the book.

For me this book was a challenging science primer, structured to hold up a proposal for consciousness. I would recommend it to interested readers who feel they have a strong grasp of the physical sciences.