Vacuum #8 http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html Nature abhors a vacuum. So does my cat. Edward Vielmetti in Ann Arbor, MI. 2003-08-20T17:13:53Z en-US new home for Vacuum weblog http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#106032894292918590 I'm keeping all the old stuff here, and transitioning to a new <a href="http://vielmetti.typepad.com/">Vacuum</a> weblog on Six Apart's <a href="http://www.typepad.com">TypePad</a>. The new site has comments (woowoo!). There's an <a href="http://vielmetti.typepad.com/vacuum/index.rdf">RSS feed</a> available. Edward Vielmetti 2003-08-08T07:49:02Z Vacuum weblog on Six Apart's TypePad. The new site has comments (woowoo!). There's an RSS feed available.]]> Road trip DJ: Music for where you are and where you're going http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#106002657827762991 <img src="http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/ncsubookstores/images/ipod.jpg" class=inset>I don't drive very much, so a recent vacation car trip that included 5 days of lots of driving had me thinking about what you might do to pass the time.<br /><br />One of the things that helps me a lot when moving from place to place is knowing precisely where I am - having landmarks in sight or in anticipation so that the road or path is not just a featureless endless stretch. I've driven I-75 and US-2 enough times that I do have a batch of memories even of very sparsely settled roads.<br /><br />The thought then is pretty simple; a mobile music device like an iPod that has GPS location on it, so that it knows where you are and selects or offers up things to listen to based on where you are or what's coming up. Some of it is totally ideosyncratic, like playing tunes from bands you saw at concert venues when you go past or near the venue. Some of it is obvious, like playing <a href="http://www.brave.com/bo/lyrics/mysterys.htm">Mystery Spot Polka</a> when you're on US-2 heading west out of St Ignace, or <a href="http://home.pacbell.net/chabpyne/lyrics.html">Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald</a> on M-123 north of M-28 near Whitefish Bay.<br /><br />If you're actually walking through a town that has enough density of people and events and history in it to have songs written to tell the story, so much the better.<br /><br />Inspired a bit by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140094296">Bruce Chatwin's Songlines</a>, in turn recommended by <a href="http://www.louisrosenfeld.com">Lou Rosenfeld</a>.<br /> Edward Vielmetti 2003-08-04T19:49:38Z I don't drive very much, so a recent vacation car trip that included 5 days of lots of driving had me thinking about what you might do to pass the time.

One of the things that helps me a lot when moving from place to place is knowing precisely where I am - having landmarks in sight or in anticipation so that the road or path is not just a featureless endless stretch. I've driven I-75 and US-2 enough times that I do have a batch of memories even of very sparsely settled roads.

The thought then is pretty simple; a mobile music device like an iPod that has GPS location on it, so that it knows where you are and selects or offers up things to listen to based on where you are or what's coming up. Some of it is totally ideosyncratic, like playing tunes from bands you saw at concert venues when you go past or near the venue. Some of it is obvious, like playing Mystery Spot Polka when you're on US-2 heading west out of St Ignace, or Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald on M-123 north of M-28 near Whitefish Bay.

If you're actually walking through a town that has enough density of people and events and history in it to have songs written to tell the story, so much the better.

Inspired a bit by Bruce Chatwin's Songlines, in turn recommended by Lou Rosenfeld.
]]> Haddad deported, family remains in U.S. - 07/16/03 http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#105837230473579522 <a href="http://www.detnews.com/2003/metro/0307/16/metro-218841.htm">Haddad deported, family remains in U.S. - 07/16/03</a><br />By Sarah Freeman<br><br />ANN ARBOR -- The co-founder of an Islamic charity has been deported to Lebanon and his wife says he was immediately taken away for interrogation. <br />U.S. Rep. John Conyers' office confirmed Tuesday that Rabih Haddad, who had been detained for 19 months, was deported Monday. The rest of his family remains in the United States. <br />Haddad's wife, Salma Al-Rushaid, said she first heard of her husband's deportation when he called her collect from Amsterdam on Tuesday morning. <br />Al-Rushaid said she heard about Haddad's interrogation from her mother-in-law who had been awaiting his arrival at an airport in Lebanon. <br />'Our worst fears have come true. We applied for political asylum because we feared that any government would be more than pleased to please the U.S. government and interrogate Rabih,' Al-Rushaid said. " Edward Vielmetti 2003-07-16T16:18:24Z Haddad deported, family remains in U.S. - 07/16/03
By Sarah Freeman

ANN ARBOR -- The co-founder of an Islamic charity has been deported to Lebanon and his wife says he was immediately taken away for interrogation.
U.S. Rep. John Conyers' office confirmed Tuesday that Rabih Haddad, who had been detained for 19 months, was deported Monday. The rest of his family remains in the United States.
Haddad's wife, Salma Al-Rushaid, said she first heard of her husband's deportation when he called her collect from Amsterdam on Tuesday morning.
Al-Rushaid said she heard about Haddad's interrogation from her mother-in-law who had been awaiting his arrival at an airport in Lebanon.
'Our worst fears have come true. We applied for political asylum because we feared that any government would be more than pleased to please the U.S. government and interrogate Rabih,' Al-Rushaid said. "]]> day lilies in bloom http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#105761092040716625 <a href="http://www.carsoncity.k12.mi.us/~hsstudent/wildflowers/daylilyFS.html"><img class=inset src="http://www.vacuumgroup.com/images/daylily.jpg">Day Lily<br></a>The passing of the summer - the new crop of flowers in Ann Arbor is the day lily, which bloom in profusion anywhere they've been allowed to take over a space. Edward Vielmetti 2003-07-07T20:48:40Z Day Lily
The passing of the summer - the new crop of flowers in Ann Arbor is the day lily, which bloom in profusion anywhere they've been allowed to take over a space.]]> One of the most interesting social networking exer... http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#105738026234382441 <a href="http://www.detnews.com/2003/careers/0305/07/b03-157592.htm"><img src="http://www.detnews.com/pix/2003/05/07/b03network.jpg" class=inset></a>One of the most interesting social networking exercises I've done is the "Reciprocity Ring", an invention of Wayne and Cheryl Baker's Humax Corporation. In this game you go around a table each telling a short story of something you're looking for, and in return the other people at the table pitch in with their suggestions and help. Here's <a href="<br />http://www.barzey.com/archives/000397.html">one blogger's account</a>. <font size="-1">for you, Harrison</font> Edward Vielmetti 2003-07-05T04:44:22Z One of the most interesting social networking exercises I've done is the "Reciprocity Ring", an invention of Wayne and Cheryl Baker's Humax Corporation. In this game you go around a table each telling a short story of something you're looking for, and in return the other people at the table pitch in with their suggestions and help. Here's one blogger's account. for you, Harrison]]> Andy Goldsworthy http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#105737642319859775 <a href="http://cgee.hamline.edu/see/goldsworthy/see_an_andy.html"><img src="http://cgee.hamline.edu/see/goldsworthy/gold_peblsthum.gif" class=inset></a>A few months ago there was an Andy Goldsworthy show at the U of Michigan art museum. He does fascinating installations with artifacts from nature - leaves, pebbles, snow - and the exhibit had a number of photographs plus an installation. There's a film called <a href="http://www.filmforum.com/rivers.html">Rivers and Tides</a> about his work, coming to Ann Arbor's Michigan Theater on 18 July 2003, check this <a href="http://www.roxie.com/Riversdate.html">release schedule</a> for a time in your area. <font size="-1">thanks Jill</font><br /> Edward Vielmetti 2003-07-05T03:40:23Z A few months ago there was an Andy Goldsworthy show at the U of Michigan art museum. He does fascinating installations with artifacts from nature - leaves, pebbles, snow - and the exhibit had a number of photographs plus an installation. There's a film called Rivers and Tides about his work, coming to Ann Arbor's Michigan Theater on 18 July 2003, check this release schedule for a time in your area. thanks Jill
]]> LoonCam http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#105710918215605139 <img src="http://www.adn.com/ips_rich_content/55-2loons.jpg" class=inset><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/06/30/nesting.loons.ap/index.html">CNN.com - Candid camera captures nesting loons - Jun. 30, 2003</a>: "The Loon Cam, affixed to a pole in the water and facing toward shore, can be tilted up, down and sideways, or it can zoom in or out, from the institute's offices. <br />The camera records everything that happens on the loon nest, 24 hours a day. It also sends live streaming video and digital photos over the Internet. <br />'This is a living example of what technology can do,' Attix said. 'It blows my mind.' " Edward Vielmetti 2003-07-02T01:26:22Z CNN.com - Candid camera captures nesting loons - Jun. 30, 2003: "The Loon Cam, affixed to a pole in the water and facing toward shore, can be tilted up, down and sideways, or it can zoom in or out, from the institute's offices.
The camera records everything that happens on the loon nest, 24 hours a day. It also sends live streaming video and digital photos over the Internet.
'This is a living example of what technology can do,' Attix said. 'It blows my mind.' "]]> Daniel Kahneman and Vernon Smith, Economics Nobel Prize http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#105695572077686637 <a href="http://www.argmax.com/mt_blog/archive/000169.php">ArgMax Economics Weblog: Clarifying the Nobel Prize</a>. This is not new news, but I'm collecting some summary and background information on behavioral economics, and as good a place as any to start is Kahneman and Smith's 2002 Nobel prize. The blog here cited says:<br /><blockquote><br />The problem with doing a summary is that either you (the reader) are (1) an economist and likely know their work and don't need a summary, or (2) a generally intelligent person who will read the summary and think, "gee, that's obvious, I knew people don't behave the way economists assume, they won a Nobel for that?" or (3) bored to death.<br /></blockquote><br />That said, here's the Nobel committee's summary:<br /><blockquote><br />Traditionally, economic theory has relied on the assumption of a "homo œconomicus", whose behavior is governed by self-interest and who is capable of rational decision-making. Economics has also been regarded as a non-experimental science, where researchers – as in astronomy or meteorology – have had to rely exclusively on field data, that is, direct observations of the real world. During the last two decades, however, these views have undergone a transformation. Controlled laboratory experiments have emerged as a vital component of economic research and, in certain instances, experimental results have shown that basic postulates in economic theory should be modified. This process has been generated by researchers in two areas: cognitive psychologists who have studied human judgment and decision-making, and experimental economists who have tested economic models in the laboratory. This year’s prize is awarded to the innovators in these two fields: Daniel Kahneman and Vernon Smith.<br /></blockquote><br />Note the timeframe - I got my undergraduate degree in economics in 1988, which means that all of the advances in the field in this area happened well after any of it started to percolate into the undergraduate curriculum at Michigan. (Don't even know if any of it has made its way in yet.) So that homonculous "homo economicus" still lives in my brain, and I'm trying as best I can to drive him out. Edward Vielmetti 2003-06-30T06:48:40Z ArgMax Economics Weblog: Clarifying the Nobel Prize. This is not new news, but I'm collecting some summary and background information on behavioral economics, and as good a place as any to start is Kahneman and Smith's 2002 Nobel prize. The blog here cited says:

The problem with doing a summary is that either you (the reader) are (1) an economist and likely know their work and don't need a summary, or (2) a generally intelligent person who will read the summary and think, "gee, that's obvious, I knew people don't behave the way economists assume, they won a Nobel for that?" or (3) bored to death.

That said, here's the Nobel committee's summary:

Traditionally, economic theory has relied on the assumption of a "homo œconomicus", whose behavior is governed by self-interest and who is capable of rational decision-making. Economics has also been regarded as a non-experimental science, where researchers – as in astronomy or meteorology – have had to rely exclusively on field data, that is, direct observations of the real world. During the last two decades, however, these views have undergone a transformation. Controlled laboratory experiments have emerged as a vital component of economic research and, in certain instances, experimental results have shown that basic postulates in economic theory should be modified. This process has been generated by researchers in two areas: cognitive psychologists who have studied human judgment and decision-making, and experimental economists who have tested economic models in the laboratory. This year’s prize is awarded to the innovators in these two fields: Daniel Kahneman and Vernon Smith.

Note the timeframe - I got my undergraduate degree in economics in 1988, which means that all of the advances in the field in this area happened well after any of it started to percolate into the undergraduate curriculum at Michigan. (Don't even know if any of it has made its way in yet.) So that homonculous "homo economicus" still lives in my brain, and I'm trying as best I can to drive him out.]]> Calculating the Irrational in Economics http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#105677455268992335 <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/28/arts/28BEHA.html?ei=5007&en=f4e0e91f59aa4a8a&ex=1372132800&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=print&position=">Calculating the Irrational in Economics</a><blockquote> The Boston Fed summoned the behaviorists to the Wequassett Inn in Chatham, Mass. The conference was given the quaint title 'How Humans Behave,' as if monetary policymakers had suddenly realized that, lo and behold, on the other end of all that policy are actual people. The collection of mainstream economists and central bankers would be the highest-level audience the behaviorists had ever enjoyed, the best chance yet for their new thinking to hit the bloodstream. <br />From the outset the mood was civil, especially considering that the behaviorists are essentially calling for an end to economics as we know it. (As one economist grumbled, 'What you have to understand is that behavioral economics is attacking the foundation of what welfare economics is built on.') So it was not surprising that some Fed elders seemed wary, as if they were at a family reunion and welcoming a distant cousin about whom they had heard only puzzling rumors. But with the economy stuck in a condition between dismal and desperate, the behaviorists' timing could not have been better."</blockquote> (The New York Times) Edward Vielmetti 2003-06-28T04:29:12Z Calculating the Irrational in Economics
The Boston Fed summoned the behaviorists to the Wequassett Inn in Chatham, Mass. The conference was given the quaint title 'How Humans Behave,' as if monetary policymakers had suddenly realized that, lo and behold, on the other end of all that policy are actual people. The collection of mainstream economists and central bankers would be the highest-level audience the behaviorists had ever enjoyed, the best chance yet for their new thinking to hit the bloodstream.
From the outset the mood was civil, especially considering that the behaviorists are essentially calling for an end to economics as we know it. (As one economist grumbled, 'What you have to understand is that behavioral economics is attacking the foundation of what welfare economics is built on.') So it was not surprising that some Fed elders seemed wary, as if they were at a family reunion and welcoming a distant cousin about whom they had heard only puzzling rumors. But with the economy stuck in a condition between dismal and desperate, the behaviorists' timing could not have been better."
(The New York Times)]]> Echo Roadmap http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#105666909972265316 The <a href="http://www.intertwingly.net/wiki/pie/RoadMap">Echo Roadmap Wiki</a> is a planning and organizing space for a new file format to describe weblog postings - kind of like the next version of RSS, except that it won't be called RSS. It's also a very interesting case study of the use of wiki in standards development. Edward Vielmetti 2003-06-26T23:11:39Z Echo Roadmap Wiki is a planning and organizing space for a new file format to describe weblog postings - kind of like the next version of RSS, except that it won't be called RSS. It's also a very interesting case study of the use of wiki in standards development.]]> Google Toolbar http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#105665352307493861 <img src="http://new.blogger.com/images/app-ui/logo-blog_this.gif" class=inset>The beta release of the <a href="http://toolbar.google.com/index-beta.php">Google Toolbar</a> has a "BlogThis" button, which makes it very easy to post to a page. Nice work <a href="http://www.evhead.com">Ev</a>. (thanks Ross for the pointer) Edward Vielmetti 2003-06-26T18:52:44Z The beta release of the Google Toolbar has a "BlogThis" button, which makes it very easy to post to a page. Nice work Ev. (thanks Ross for the pointer)]]> The Nature of Order http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#105650755324414199 <!-- start of image --><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0972652914/tubed"><img style="border:solid gray 1px;margin-right:10px;margin-bottom:10px;" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0972652914.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left"></a><!-- end of image --><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0972652914/tubed">The Phenomenon of Life</a> by Christopher Alexander<br /><!-- Start your post below this line (above by BookPost) --><br />The first in his "Nature of Order" series, this work is just recently available at Amazon. Jeff Lopez-Stuit writes that he has a copy & is up to page 15 -- in his words a book that could "change my whole life". Hmm, better find a copy. Originally <a href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~emv/project/vacuum/weblog-0006.html">blogged on Feb 8, 2002</a>, so it's been a long time coming.<br /><br />(<a href="http://www.quicktopic.com/19/H/Na7LJWK7XF5">Discuss</a>) Edward Vielmetti 2003-06-25T02:19:13Z The Phenomenon of Life by Christopher Alexander

The first in his "Nature of Order" series, this work is just recently available at Amazon. Jeff Lopez-Stuit writes that he has a copy & is up to page 15 -- in his words a book that could "change my whole life". Hmm, better find a copy. Originally blogged on Feb 8, 2002, so it's been a long time coming.

(Discuss)]]> Socialtext funding announced http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#105639577369256824 <img src="http://www.socialtext.net/images/socialtext-140.gif" class=inset>Good news on the work front - <a href="http://www.socialtext.com/weblog/030623angel.html">Socialtext just announced</a> that we've closed an angel round of funding, with good backers including <a href="http://joi.ito.com/archives/2003/06/23/invested_in_socialtext.html">Joi Ito</a>. One more step along the way.... Edward Vielmetti 2003-06-23T19:16:13Z Good news on the work front - Socialtext just announced that we've closed an angel round of funding, with good backers including Joi Ito. One more step along the way....]]> RSS feed http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#105631828576278573 <a href="http://vacuum.mi.org/rss.xml"><img src="http://www.vacuumgroup.com/images/xml.gif" class=inset></a><br /><br />New <a href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~emv/project/vacuum/rss.xml">RSS feed for this weblog</a> thanks to the new blogger.<br /> Edward Vielmetti 2003-06-22T21:44:45Z

New RSS feed for this weblog thanks to the new blogger.
]]> Juneberries are ripe in Ann Arbor http://vacuum.mi.org/weblog-0008.html#105631678051964594 <img src="http://www.vacuumgroup.com/images/juneberry.jpg" class=inset> The nicest thing that happened to me today was going out for a walk with Saul around the University of Michigan campus and finding some ripe <a href="http://www.ag.usask.ca/departments/plsc/nfdp/amelanchier/cultivars.html">juneberries</a> (amelanchier) by the new Chemistry building. The berries weren't too high, I picked a handful and we shared them. Mulberries are ripe too.<br /><br />(hmm, new Blogger Pro interface) Edward Vielmetti 2003-06-22T21:19:40Z The nicest thing that happened to me today was going out for a walk with Saul around the University of Michigan campus and finding some ripe juneberries (amelanchier) by the new Chemistry building. The berries weren't too high, I picked a handful and we shared them. Mulberries are ripe too.

(hmm, new Blogger Pro interface)]]>