Wailer Wall

Welcome to the Arena

2010-08-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

The Wailer Report. Vonage: “Hello, my name is Julie how can I help?” Me: ‘Look Minish, I don’t mean to be critical here but I don’t think Julie is an appropriate American name for you. How about Trevor or Zachary? I want to cancel my account.’ GAME ON-Welcome to the Arena.

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To Form A More Perfect Union

2010-08-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

Sometime in the summer of 2010 the Republican Party of Iowa (RPI) created a declaration that begins with “We the People” of Iowa’ and serves as their ‘platform’. In general this document, we will call it ‘The Platform’, states that our present iteration of ‘government’ is a far cry from what the founding fathers intended.

To my fellow Republicans who feel slightly outside the current movement, you’re not in Kansas any more. Welcome to Iowa and home of the Republican Party of Iowa and their brand spanking new Platform. I’ll navigate your trip. Sit back and enjoy The Wailer Report!

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2010-05-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

Basket Weaving 101 with strings

2010-02-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

Mousing around the world’s web the other day I came across an eight page ‘research paper’ written by a student at University of Illinois. Here are some excerpts from his thesis.

Building the parts in the lab was also an unreasonable approach… (given) the extreme precision necessary on tasks. After several weeks of struggling with the above possibilities After a bit of introspection, I realized this is what I was looking for but had no hope of finding. That aside, the (project) came together over the course of two weeks, despite vague instructions in which all screws looked the same,

Despite these minor fabrication errors, mediocre instructions and screws, and less than perfect part allocation, the end result (fig. 2) unquestionably exceeded our expectations.

OK, you get the point. This is a very sophisticated college level physics project, documented in the tradition of all UI research papers. Problem is that this kid is actually assembling a $100 Saga Strat guitar kit. Everything was precut, predrilled, prewired and needed about an hour of screw driver time. And now this on page 3.

At this point, about half the course remained and it appeared that my augmentation scheme would not be necessary, or even helpful. Aside from some cosmetic issues and the addition of a protective coating…

Oh, please go on Einstein.

The headstock came in a blocky form, allowing the assembler to choose the shape and style of this feature. I chose to mimic the curl of an old (’54) Fender Stratocaster that was in the lab for assessment, seeing this as the noblest lineage my pseudo-strat could aspire to. After tracing the classic guitar’s headstock and transferring this outline to my uncarved block, I attempted several means of cutting the headstock. Fearing coarse electric saws would damage the wood, I used a coping saw, which progressed very slowly, overheated often, and bound easily in the hard maple of the headstock, but eventually succeeded in hacking out the rough shape desired.

And now to the always desirable drama and tension building in any great story.

The body and neck (but not the fretboard) had been pre-coated with a thin clear coat to avoid damaging the wood with finger oils and so forth, but the manual (and my compatriots in the class) suggested a more permanent finish be placed on the wood to protect it and give it more style.

Also note that in carving the headstock I had just opened a large hole in the initial protective layer. To ensure a high quality coating, the wood was wiped clean with reagent grade isopropanol and the coat was left to dry for over a week undisturbed in a low dust environment.

Imagine this guy’s paper when he tackles something like ‘the relativistic velocities of light’. However he does get it right in the end.

In the end analysis, however, it is the sound of the pickup, not its physical characteristics that matter. These are certainly related, but it is rarely as simple as “a lower field sounds better” or “impedance peak at 7 kHz has a singing tone,” but is rather a combination of many small traits and personal preferences. These data are all interesting, and surprising, even, but you really just have to trust your ears. All in all, I’m content with what I hear from this newly built guitar. Now I just need to learn to play…

Well said Norman.

Reaper

2010-02-04T15:56:00.000-08:00

Today the needs of our military continue to change. Certainly one change is the need to have on staff a number of ‘pilots’ to fly unmanned drones in places like Pakistan. But where should these pilots reside? Should they be on Navy carriers in the Indian Ocean or in mobile trailers in Afghanistan? How about in a ‘cube’ on some military installation in Nevada or simply in their own family room. What is the most efficient way to recruit and train these cyber warriors? What should be their key skill sets?

The new generation of ‘pilots’ need to be the cream of crop Halo Masters. The kid that never gets killed, dominates and is known worldwide as ‘Reaper’. But Reaper plays games online; he doesn’t actually kill people, right?

The New Paradigm for war. A few years from now Microsoft introduces ‘Drone: The Ultimate Alternate Reality Cyberwar’. Millions of kids start playing from every corner of the world, pitted against each other inside thousands of Window VP Servers in Bellevue. There, a few 24/7 freaks of nature begin to dominate everyone. Lancelot who plays from IP 12987.76.7786 somewhere in Holland. Blackhole IP 9792.8.222 out of Russia. Madhatter out of France. And of course, Reaper from somewhere in Western China.

The Committee convenes everyday at 0800 in Building 24 in the Pentagon. They watch four huge LED screens driven by ‘Watcher v5.5’ the latest version of Advanced Gamer Analysis Potential software, AGaP continuously collects feeds from millions of Drone players and hones in on the very best. Lately the very best is Reaper, closely followed by Blackhole, Lancelot and Madhatter. They now play as a team lead by Reaper and they are a phenomenon. They can seek out the most cunning adversaries hidden in lairs all over the exquisitely animated Arabian Desserts of the game Drone. A deadly, relentless formation of drones led by Reaper. They don’t miss.

The Committee has today’s DOD mission; find and take out al Ahmad Takidi the current al Qaeda jihad leader hidden somewhere in sector 78eB on the Pakistani-Afghanistan border. As always the weapon of choice is the Cutfire 35, the latest drone from Boeing’s Avenger Series. And, of course, the best and most efficient way to fly these Deathstars is by using unsuspecting gamers engaged online playing Drone.

At precisely 0950 the ultra-real dessert landscape in front of our master couch Jedi’s switches over to the feeds from the Mark 80 Digital Video Sensors on four Cutfire 35s on their way to Sector 78eB. An hour later, Talidi, four of his minions and a dozen family members are no longer ‘suspects of interest’ in the ongoing war on terror. Reaper, Blackhole, Lancelot and Madhatter sign off after a few choice words in celebration at finally breaking through the seemingly impossible one million mark in Drone Reward Points. Their Oracle Cyberpower 4500 gaming PCs will ship UPS Priority tonight. Just in time for the super secret fleet introduction of the Cutfire 35B

2010-02-03T07:35:00.001-08:00

Just when everything seems 'so right'.