biden cozy with RIAA
Monday, August 25th, 2008Senator Joe Biden, Obama’s VP pick, is no friend to file sharing, net neutrality protection, or online privacy according to Declan McCullagh, CNET and picked up by Wilson Rothman on gizmodo.
Archive for August, 2008
sts9 jams the showbox
Sunday, August 24th, 2008
I was the fortunate recipient of a free ticket to Saturday night’s STS9 jam at the Showbox — my first STS9 concert. The warmup band was Blackalicious. STS9 performed two sets, the second one started a few minutes past midnight.
I shot the video clip with my phone; it’s from the last song of the second set prior to the encore. This was one of my favorite songs, if anyone knows the name let me know.
The weirdest thing about this band is how they all wear earphones and don’t look at each other while playing — I suspected that they were listening to a click track with recorded instructions on when to change key, when to stop playing, etc. I figured they’d be screwed if the earphones quit working.
On the positive side, their drummer is a human machine. And they hypnotize you into dancing, maybe with the bright lights. They got some pretty fabulous grooves going.
pakistani democracy concerns U.S.
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008After many years of having their freedoms whittled away, Pakistan’s citizens used the power of their democracy to impeach former President Musharraf, and now Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is preparing to reinstate the federal judges who were fired by Musharraf.
This use of democratic powers to reinforce democracy is surely worrying the U.S. state department, who had invested heavily in the Musharraf administration.
There is the possibility of a Pakistani backlash against the U.S., in terms of ‘the friend of my enemy is my enemy’ — similar to what happened in Iran after it’s people forced the U.S. - backed Shah Pahlavi from power in 1979.
“He wasn’t perfect, but Musharraf was a good friend to the U.S. and helped our mutual fight against terror,” said Condi Rice, adding ” He will be sorely missed.”
don’t piss off your teacher in texas
Friday, August 15th, 2008Teachers in the Harrold school district in Texas are to be allowed to carry concealed firearms when the new school term opens this month. — BBC News
If I was a student in Harrold I’d sure as hell want to pack my own heat to defend myself against the bastards and even the odds. It’s your right according to the second amendment to the U.S. constitution… oh right, you’re not a citizen until you’re 21 in this country…dang!
feng yun wins ing as 2008 go congress enters yose
Saturday, August 9th, 2008Feng Yun 9P defeated Yilun Yang 7P last night to win the 2008 Ing Masters tournament. The middle game featured a difficult fight, which prompted commentator Takemiya Masaki 9P to remark, “You shouldn’t have to try that hard. It’s better to think as simply as possible. Both players are too much into it — they want to win badly because it’s the final match.”
Here is Feng Yun reviewing the game of a congress participant during a lecture this afternoon.
computer defeats 8P go professional
Thursday, August 7th, 2008A historic sign of the times occurred this afternoon when computer go program MoGo defeated Korean go professional Myungwan Kim 8P at the 2008 U.S. Go Congress in Portland OR. The computer played with a 9-stone handicap and won by 1.5 stones.
MoGo was written by French programmer Sylvain Gelly and ran on a borrowed European supercomputer with 800 CPUs. MoGo is available for download at Gelly’s home page.
With the current pace of technology I now expect to see computers defeating human professionals playing even games in my lifetime…a vision both exciting and depressing.
I just installed MoGo on my laptop and played it a quick game, and I’m impressed, it played some moves so good it was spooky…but MoGo’s yose sucks. OTOH I made MoGo play white…if I gave it 9 stones and more thinking time it would probably give this 8k a run for his money. I’ll try it, but not tonight.
why playing go is fun
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
Takemiya Masaki 9P spoke to assembled participants at the 2008 U.S. Go Congress this afternoon at Portland State University. Here’s some of what he said during the first 30 minutes:
Everyone wants to get stronger at go and everyone wants to win games. Are you playing your moves at the first spot you wanted to play? Or do you change your mind because you think that move has problems? That kind of thinking keeps you from improving.
No one ever believes me when I say this.
The desire to win keeps you from playing the move you want to make. The move you want to play represents your own style. You can play one hundred games but if you don’t play your own moves it’s as if you played none.
Many people learn to not play their own moves because those moves have made them lose games. By sticking with your own moves, you may lose more, but eventually you will learn how to make these moves work and you will start winning. It is more satisfying to play the move you want to play. Don’t worry about losing.
Everyone has a different way of thinking about the game. The technical aspects of go are not that important. The game has infinite possibilities. What’s important is the way you think and feel about the game.
You think that professionals are reading ahead and considering variations — no. Thinking ahead too much is detrimental. Not just about go but life in general. So pros aren’t thinking, they are developing a feel for the game. They are thinking about the game at the speed of sound, but feeling the game at the speed of light.
Getting stronger is gradual; nobody starts out strong. Strong and weak players think about the game differently. A beginner is thinking about where to play and will it work or not. A pro isn’t thinking about where to play, but about what’s important on the board.
Understanding potential threats also is important. If your body is unhealthy, it restricts your movement. Go is similar. If your groups are healthy they can fight well. Sometimes you have weak stones, this affects your play. Learn good vs. bad shapes. Good shape wins more games.
People think that having the most territory wins games — no. I blame go books for this misconception. It’s not who has the most territory who wins — it’s who has the most territory at the end of the game. So don’t play territorial moves, play shape moves. With many good shapes you will win naturally.
Why is go fun? One reason is because every game is different. In many situations in life, uncertainty brings anxiety. But life is enjoyable because it’s unpredictable. If you knew what was going to happen for the rest of your life, why bother to live it? Not knowing what’s going to happen makes it more fun. Every go game is like a journey to a new place. And it’s fun to discover cool new moves.
Play with courage, not with fear.
–Takemiya Masaki, 2008-August-05
summertime
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
Hanging loose at the beach in Yachats, in the zone.
amufflercana
Saturday, August 2nd, 2008
The muffler in my auto blew on the way down to Oregon. The Corvallis repair shop I had it replaced in had these muffler sculpture dudes out front.
