i can sum up the day with the word "shopping", so i'll just get straight to the point.
at 1pm, i received a phone call from the ceo. they're all satisfied with my submission and they want me on board. he pre-empted almost every question i had or problem i would have raised, we came to a happy compromise on every issue discussed. his legal team will make sure that everything's legit, i have a week to visit toronto and then they want me to get cracking. tomorrow i have to meet with the head of the montreal operations to go through the finer details, but we've more or less covered all the important stuff and it's all very much to my satisfaction.
so here's what it looks like to me: 50 weeks ago (to the day) i lost my rag, and it appears that today was the first day of the rest of my life. after we get back from toronto we're going to look for an apartment, and pg will send me the important stuff when she gets back to israel (which there's not much of) and at some stage i will get in touch with the authorities there to explain that i'm out of the country, indefinitely.
and then my new life begins. i start working, i learn french, i enroll in university to complete my degree (i'm sure that won't be too much of an issue), and i behave like a grown-up at least until i've acquired citizenship.
...
i'd like to take this opportunity to thank the universe for conspiring to assist me and to pray that it continues to do so. i'd prefer if the next few surprises are positive as well, because opportunities like this really aren't so easy to come by.
Showing posts with label predictions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label predictions. Show all posts
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Monday, October 08, 2012
denial
right, i'm saying it. global warming deniers are in the same boat as hardcore 9/11 conspiracy theorists . seriously? believe what you want to believe, but keep out of the way of science, facts, and those of us who want to deal with reality.
first argument: "so says the people who aren't able to understand the criticisms of the relevant models...
none of the scientific sceptics dispute that they are in the minority... but arguing consensus has never been grounds for scientific debate."
in response to his later claim that i suffer from a god complex:
"here, mister i-have-no-god-complex. you've read so much more... than all the scientists who are making the claims? i don't have to be better read, i don't have to personally be an expert in the field, i need to see that properly peer-reviewed science is being performed. if you're one of those leading experts and on that basis you're making the claim, then show me your peer-reviewed papers. but if not, don't behave like you know everything and that all the rest of us are in denial.
i think we did agree that regardless of whether the models are correct, and regardless of whether we have the resources or not, it's a safer bet to become sustainable. because if we become sustainable, the likelihood of disaster is reduced considerably. if we don't, we're at the mercy of a bunch of people who are more into rhetoric than fact."
...
"and yes, if i dispute a particular approach in a specific journal, i'd expect you to read it. i don't dispute that 97% of climate scientists aren't sceptics... but there is that other 3%... and if you go on TRUST of a journal... that is profoundly anti-science. i'm very happy to change my mind, if someone comes up with a clincher argument... but as someone who has done computer modelling, i have a profound distrust of many complex models. specifically when things like cloud coverage is an UNKNOWN to models at this point.
i have no problems with scientists in the mainstream. i have problems with people in the mainstream who think their beliefs are self-righteously correct, and are not prepared to engage in the debate.
take richard lindzen from MIT for example. many mainstream scientists disagree with him. that's fine. but the majority of them do not call him a fool, requiring psychotherapy and a reality check. that's what your post above is doing. i suggest you read the following article."
is it not foolish to put all your eggs in one basket, and leave that basket in an area that many people have claimed is full of crime even though you haven't seen it for yourself? perhaps the consensus *IS* wrong. plebs like me can't do much about that. but what we can do is react in the smartest way to what is most reasonable to assume.
the evidence is all pointing to the 97%.
i'm fairly certain that this guy will never accept the "clincher" argument because it doesn't matter how valid it is. we need to worry about all sorts of things, but if global climates go pear-shaped then all the other problems only get exacerbated.
first argument: "so says the people who aren't able to understand the criticisms of the relevant models...
none of the scientific sceptics dispute that they are in the minority... but arguing consensus has never been grounds for scientific debate."
in response to his later claim that i suffer from a god complex:
"here, mister i-have-no-god-complex. you've read so much more... than all the scientists who are making the claims? i don't have to be better read, i don't have to personally be an expert in the field, i need to see that properly peer-reviewed science is being performed. if you're one of those leading experts and on that basis you're making the claim, then show me your peer-reviewed papers. but if not, don't behave like you know everything and that all the rest of us are in denial.
i think we did agree that regardless of whether the models are correct, and regardless of whether we have the resources or not, it's a safer bet to become sustainable. because if we become sustainable, the likelihood of disaster is reduced considerably. if we don't, we're at the mercy of a bunch of people who are more into rhetoric than fact."
...
"and yes, if i dispute a particular approach in a specific journal, i'd expect you to read it. i don't dispute that 97% of climate scientists aren't sceptics... but there is that other 3%... and if you go on TRUST of a journal... that is profoundly anti-science. i'm very happy to change my mind, if someone comes up with a clincher argument... but as someone who has done computer modelling, i have a profound distrust of many complex models. specifically when things like cloud coverage is an UNKNOWN to models at this point.
i have no problems with scientists in the mainstream. i have problems with people in the mainstream who think their beliefs are self-righteously correct, and are not prepared to engage in the debate.
take richard lindzen from MIT for example. many mainstream scientists disagree with him. that's fine. but the majority of them do not call him a fool, requiring psychotherapy and a reality check. that's what your post above is doing. i suggest you read the following article."
is it not foolish to put all your eggs in one basket, and leave that basket in an area that many people have claimed is full of crime even though you haven't seen it for yourself? perhaps the consensus *IS* wrong. plebs like me can't do much about that. but what we can do is react in the smartest way to what is most reasonable to assume.
the evidence is all pointing to the 97%.
i'm fairly certain that this guy will never accept the "clincher" argument because it doesn't matter how valid it is. we need to worry about all sorts of things, but if global climates go pear-shaped then all the other problems only get exacerbated.
tertiary
this article on banks and universities gets a bit of a rise, but it's only a brick in the grand wall the old world has built to protect us from the new one.
if the internet is free then institutions like universities are going to go the way of the other dinosaurs. universities have become less and less about academic enquiry and education than about professional training and the upkeep of people and places who otherwise wouldn't be able to hack it.
i'm not suggesting abandoning the universities, but the massive bureaucratic black holes which students must test themselves out of really aren't as good a breeding ground for advanced ideas anymore. sure, there are exceptions, but even notable exceptions (like MIT) have been pushing info and lectures online because their livelihood is the research, not the bland and boring teaching of first year students.
i'm plenty glad for my exposure to excellent teachers throughout the classes i've been attending during the past two years, but i'm fully aware that while being physically in their presence contributed loads it wasn't crucial to the experience. we could have done just fine with a virtual classroom and video-conferencing, etc. heck, out of classes of near a hundred students only a handful of us ever opened our mouths anyway, and some of the physical presence was downright detrimental.
and as for libraries, don't get me started. the very idea that not all libraries are digital and open to the public is nothing short of offensive to me. universities have essentially become limiting agents instead of catalysts.
the future of education is in our hands; the internet has made it so. any trade, any skill, any principle can be learned online. any preliminary research can be performed and the real stuff should be available soon. all we need to know, and to teach our kids, is how to climb in, how to separate the wheat from the chaff... so, critical thinking and curiosity. all the rest can be up to the student.
if the internet is free then institutions like universities are going to go the way of the other dinosaurs. universities have become less and less about academic enquiry and education than about professional training and the upkeep of people and places who otherwise wouldn't be able to hack it.
i'm not suggesting abandoning the universities, but the massive bureaucratic black holes which students must test themselves out of really aren't as good a breeding ground for advanced ideas anymore. sure, there are exceptions, but even notable exceptions (like MIT) have been pushing info and lectures online because their livelihood is the research, not the bland and boring teaching of first year students.
i'm plenty glad for my exposure to excellent teachers throughout the classes i've been attending during the past two years, but i'm fully aware that while being physically in their presence contributed loads it wasn't crucial to the experience. we could have done just fine with a virtual classroom and video-conferencing, etc. heck, out of classes of near a hundred students only a handful of us ever opened our mouths anyway, and some of the physical presence was downright detrimental.
and as for libraries, don't get me started. the very idea that not all libraries are digital and open to the public is nothing short of offensive to me. universities have essentially become limiting agents instead of catalysts.
the future of education is in our hands; the internet has made it so. any trade, any skill, any principle can be learned online. any preliminary research can be performed and the real stuff should be available soon. all we need to know, and to teach our kids, is how to climb in, how to separate the wheat from the chaff... so, critical thinking and curiosity. all the rest can be up to the student.
Monday, July 03, 2006
get out of the oven!
did somebody forget how hot and sticky it is in israel during summer? i'm dying here, people!
friday morning was grand - depressing, but nice in spite of the knowledge that i was leaving. woke up slowly, packed, and then we all went to the market to organize sushi. *excellent* sushi. the nice drive round parts of montreal i hadn't yet seen also went down well.
then we were off to the airport, for another tearful farewell (my aunt's good at that), and then i was rushed through to my plane to toronto (with a promise from the check-in counter that my luggage would go straight to tel aviv).
the first flight was alright, and in toronto i walked straight through to the shuttle to my next flight. i didn't see border control anywhere, so i guess i'm officially still in canada.
unfortunately, i had an hour to wait, and not only is the building non-smoking, but OUTSIDE TOO. the building is situated in the middle of all the runways... DAMMIT! so i bought a couple of magazines, munched some m&m's, and eventually we boarded.
a harsh, 12 hour reminder that aeroplane seats are designed for people without legs. not only was the kid behind me playing with his seatbelt the entire flight (enough clicking will get on your nerves), but the little girl in front kept holding down the button and bouncing back and forth. i went bananas, and nobody could stop her from doing it.
so yeah, that was a pretty sucky flight. i hear my mom's was worse, but that doesn't make me feel better. i think i slept about half an hour or so. i spent a lot of the waking hours hating myself for returning to uniform.
i discovered, to my complete and utter surprise, really, that my luggage is still in canada. notice the use of present tense. i hopped on the train (and luckily didn't get caught - i used my soldier's id for a free ride) and went to the base. aside from picking up my keys, and going for lunch with the kid (although after two weeks of good food, i couldn't bring myself to eat any of that crap), and some milling around and appreciating the beautiful bums the girls sport here, i waited two hours to speak to my commander. who managed to sneak out when i wasn't looking.
disappointed, i caught the bus home. my stuff's all there, which DID surprise me, and i showered and read myself to sleep.
aside from an hour or two in the late evening, when i spoke to my mom to hear about the horrors of her trip (and it really was horrific), i slept soundly until 3am.
AAARGH! and i'd slept too much, so i just lay in bed reading until my alarm went off. i shaved, and hurried off to the base (forgetting my shoes, so i'm stuck in uniform at work, which SUCKS), pretty much straight to work. oh, and i made a neat 9 month calendar (the amount of time i have left), with each month a picture of the appropriate phase in a foetus' development.
the work today (and i'll be continuing tomorrow) was extremely frustrating. my commander was in meetings the entire day, i literally didn't get two seconds to talk to him. i cleared out my 150+ new emails, sewed on one of my new ranks, and other than that had a particularly boring day.
i came straight to work, and have been in the thick of it since i got here. did some conniving with yogi. conniving is always fun. can't talk about it yet. sorry. and i have actually gotten a lot of work done. and eaten a good hamburger; i was desperate for food - i'm still not craving mess-hall trash.
considering the fact that the following thoughts consumed me for most of my trip, i've decided to jot them down:
i live in the future. i always have. it's why i dress the way i do, i why i plan do the things i haven't shut up about (IRL). so i'm constantly thinking about my possibilities, specifically from my release date next year.
1) i sign on 3 extra years, assuming that they make me an offer i can't refuse (and can't talk about, sorry)
2) i stay on at work a couple of months, to make starting money and enjoy a bit of summer out of uniform
3) i return to sa for a couple of months - i need minor surgery, and i'm not doing it when alone in israel
4a) i go off to japan, to seek work in vr / aerospace, and if i'm unsuccessful then just to have a holiday there and spend time with hido
4b) i go to the states, where i join SxS in building an empire (with me primarily focused on vr)
4c) i go to canada, to work in gaming / aerospace (they have some good places to start) or to do research in mcgill university (have contact, will travel).
so that's about it at the moment. not to mention much thoughts about starting a family; but those are just arbitrary.
right, i'm off.
friday morning was grand - depressing, but nice in spite of the knowledge that i was leaving. woke up slowly, packed, and then we all went to the market to organize sushi. *excellent* sushi. the nice drive round parts of montreal i hadn't yet seen also went down well.
then we were off to the airport, for another tearful farewell (my aunt's good at that), and then i was rushed through to my plane to toronto (with a promise from the check-in counter that my luggage would go straight to tel aviv).
the first flight was alright, and in toronto i walked straight through to the shuttle to my next flight. i didn't see border control anywhere, so i guess i'm officially still in canada.
unfortunately, i had an hour to wait, and not only is the building non-smoking, but OUTSIDE TOO. the building is situated in the middle of all the runways... DAMMIT! so i bought a couple of magazines, munched some m&m's, and eventually we boarded.
a harsh, 12 hour reminder that aeroplane seats are designed for people without legs. not only was the kid behind me playing with his seatbelt the entire flight (enough clicking will get on your nerves), but the little girl in front kept holding down the button and bouncing back and forth. i went bananas, and nobody could stop her from doing it.
so yeah, that was a pretty sucky flight. i hear my mom's was worse, but that doesn't make me feel better. i think i slept about half an hour or so. i spent a lot of the waking hours hating myself for returning to uniform.
i discovered, to my complete and utter surprise, really, that my luggage is still in canada. notice the use of present tense. i hopped on the train (and luckily didn't get caught - i used my soldier's id for a free ride) and went to the base. aside from picking up my keys, and going for lunch with the kid (although after two weeks of good food, i couldn't bring myself to eat any of that crap), and some milling around and appreciating the beautiful bums the girls sport here, i waited two hours to speak to my commander. who managed to sneak out when i wasn't looking.
disappointed, i caught the bus home. my stuff's all there, which DID surprise me, and i showered and read myself to sleep.
aside from an hour or two in the late evening, when i spoke to my mom to hear about the horrors of her trip (and it really was horrific), i slept soundly until 3am.
AAARGH! and i'd slept too much, so i just lay in bed reading until my alarm went off. i shaved, and hurried off to the base (forgetting my shoes, so i'm stuck in uniform at work, which SUCKS), pretty much straight to work. oh, and i made a neat 9 month calendar (the amount of time i have left), with each month a picture of the appropriate phase in a foetus' development.
the work today (and i'll be continuing tomorrow) was extremely frustrating. my commander was in meetings the entire day, i literally didn't get two seconds to talk to him. i cleared out my 150+ new emails, sewed on one of my new ranks, and other than that had a particularly boring day.
i came straight to work, and have been in the thick of it since i got here. did some conniving with yogi. conniving is always fun. can't talk about it yet. sorry. and i have actually gotten a lot of work done. and eaten a good hamburger; i was desperate for food - i'm still not craving mess-hall trash.
considering the fact that the following thoughts consumed me for most of my trip, i've decided to jot them down:
i live in the future. i always have. it's why i dress the way i do, i why i plan do the things i haven't shut up about (IRL). so i'm constantly thinking about my possibilities, specifically from my release date next year.
1) i sign on 3 extra years, assuming that they make me an offer i can't refuse (and can't talk about, sorry)
2) i stay on at work a couple of months, to make starting money and enjoy a bit of summer out of uniform
3) i return to sa for a couple of months - i need minor surgery, and i'm not doing it when alone in israel
4a) i go off to japan, to seek work in vr / aerospace, and if i'm unsuccessful then just to have a holiday there and spend time with hido
4b) i go to the states, where i join SxS in building an empire (with me primarily focused on vr)
4c) i go to canada, to work in gaming / aerospace (they have some good places to start) or to do research in mcgill university (have contact, will travel).
so that's about it at the moment. not to mention much thoughts about starting a family; but those are just arbitrary.
right, i'm off.
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