tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62107232011-04-21T20:32:38.202-05:00SapienceOnline journal of a self-educated generalist on a quest.Confutusnoreply@blogger.comBlogger841100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1086119905747868992004-06-01T14:55:00.000-05:002004-06-01T14:58:25.746-05:00This blog will be going inactive indefinitely, as work on the Sapience Knowledge Base is coming to a halt. Instead, I have begun a new one: "From the Ground".Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1085856544334368032004-05-29T13:42:00.000-05:002004-05-29T13:49:04.333-05:00My web stats are showing no activity but my own. I thought there was a *little* more usage than that. In the meantime, I have a limited set of updates ready to publish, mostly extending the late 20th century a little.
Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1085772374126255532004-05-28T14:20:00.000-05:002004-05-28T14:26:14.126-05:00I've been doing some research on topics to drive my next set of updates: mostly, a little bit further back in history, and better connections for govenment and economics. I also have the code addded for site statistics, so I should have another source for what I need to add.
Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1085690449277110412004-05-27T15:26:00.000-05:002004-05-27T15:40:49.276-05:00 I found a way to track the traffic on the SKB. I would have to pay extra for this service with my web host, through analysis of the log files. This will involve an extra connection and might slow my site down a little, and I'm sure there are hidden strings attached, but I really do need to analyze the usage if I want to improve its usability. That should go in the next round of updates I Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1085598217457094842004-05-26T13:45:00.000-05:002004-05-26T14:03:37.456-05:00Doing better. I have a hard time sticking with just one approach to growing the site; I need a variety, and I'm starting again with the history section. I have another page to add in the 19th century, but I've also started back at the late 20th and am working on the next level of detail.
I'm also going to have to work in more detail on the United States: a single page isn't going to do the job, Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1085506250470982022004-05-25T12:21:00.000-05:002004-05-25T12:30:50.470-05:00Internet access has been difficult this week. I do have another round of update to the SKB. The science section is better, I've resumed work on biographies, have all the major branch pages in conceptual culture, I've begun the city list, have a few more nations, and I've pushed the history back a little earlier. The development is incremental: no one entry makes a radical change and there are a Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1084866087075543062004-05-18T02:36:00.000-05:002004-05-18T02:41:27.076-05:00I've let my posts slip a little, but I have been doing work on the site. The lastest round of updates is now up: History is stronger in the 20th century and in Medieval times, the Middle East is better developed; the Conceptual culture section has more pages, I've filled in a long-standing gap in anthropology, and there is a whole batch of updates to the science section.
The data-driven approach Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1083956979278517882004-05-07T14:09:00.000-05:002004-05-07T14:14:07.670-05:00No news is...no news. I've been doing a bit more socializing on the internet and now have a couple of e-mail pals, so I've been concentrating on that and other obligations.
Right now the hold up is on getting all the development work I was doing on a borrowed computer back on my own.
Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1083888301123414982004-05-06T19:05:00.000-05:002004-05-07T14:07:45.280-05:00The computer problem is fixed: the intermittent start up problems seem to have been due to a failing power supply. It's now working properly, so I should be getting back to my ordinary pace of an update to the site every week or so.
Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1083353002489108092004-04-30T14:23:00.000-05:002004-04-30T14:27:41.186-05:00Negligent, that's me; for something that was intended to be daily, it's been a while. For some reason I've had a block about actually doing any work on the SKB. Indecision about what to do next is part of it. Lack of any feedback at all is a bigger one. Same thing about this blog. I'm shy of publicity, especially when I know something doesn't have the quality I would like it to have, but I needConfutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1083006972419119102004-04-26T14:16:00.000-05:002004-04-26T14:20:25.686-05:00I got some revision done on physics and mechanics and added a couple of pages Friday night. I haven't been able to do much over the weekend.
Some of the more successful efforts at development of the site have come when I have remembered that the organization needs to be driven by the data. I have a tendency to forget this.
Saturday I started another approach to reviewing encyclopedic data, and Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1082754836931443832004-04-23T16:13:00.000-05:002004-04-23T16:18:06.200-05:00 I have been making improving the connections of various pages to science, physics, and mechanics. Some of these will be useful, but others are being made at least partly in order to clear the way for more useful, or at least more interesting areas.
For most of the site, which involves human and social sciences and humanities, the areas of personal studies may prove more valuable. Most of Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1082671119312620852004-04-22T16:58:00.000-05:002004-04-22T17:02:46.560-05:00I've had limited computer access for the past couple of days, so I haven't added much to the site. I've had no response to my first round of inquiries, so I guess the site isn't particularly interesting. I'm working on (yet another) scheme for selecting what connections to make and what areas to develop; hopefully this will yield more progress.
Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1082493770915091212004-04-20T15:42:00.000-05:002004-04-20T15:46:55.746-05:00More modifications to the SKB; I decided that the prioritization scheme wasn't working, so I'm back to an older bottom-up approach. Quite a few pages are still using concepts for the ordering and presentation of information that I have modified, and I'm working mostly with pages that are higher in the hierarchy, so that I can use them appropriately as guides to lower level divisions.
No Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1082234037954818482004-04-17T15:33:00.000-05:002004-04-17T15:37:58.623-05:00I got a few modifications to the SKB in. I have a better account of science history, and several pages within physics have better connections to history. I've written to a few professors of physics asking for feedback on my site and asking other questions. It's a bit early to look for a response yet. I have been looking through the chemistry portion of my site for areas to update, and I'm Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1082126262888810432004-04-16T09:37:00.000-05:002004-04-16T09:41:41.780-05:00It appears that my computer's power supply has died the death, so my ability to work on the web site will be indefinitely slow and uncertain. I have been pondering what to do with the more limited resources I now have, and it appears that this may be actually a blessing in disguise.
The idea behind my site is integration of knowledge, and it appears that hardly anyone will be interested unless Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1081896219798858142004-04-13T17:43:00.000-05:002004-04-13T17:47:34.936-05:00Site update!
The "inversion" or reversal of topics had progressed more than I thought, so I decided to go ahead and post it. I've been racing along with connections and giving less attention to content, so at least in the early science sections, I hope to pay more attention to it, including more links and the like. I collected a few good physics links, although it's not at all easy to find the Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1081796645611511682004-04-12T14:04:00.000-05:002004-04-12T14:07:59.716-05:00I had intended this to be nearly daily and it started that way, but events have intervened. Some days I have little to say, some I don't have computer access, and some are occupied with other demands.
A day or so after it got it's launch license, Scaled Composites flew another test flight, one which reached Mach 2 and a third of the way to the X-prize altitude. Way to go! I read that by the Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1081446900251633672004-04-08T12:55:00.000-05:002004-04-08T12:58:48.903-05:00I thought the insurgency in Iraq was going to start dying down, but I don't see it happening. The pattern looks much like what happened in Yugoslavia when Tito died. Tito, like Saddam Hussein, was a dictator who held the disparate elements of his country together by force and terror. When he died, there was no one person who could control the country: instead, it disintegrated into fights for Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1081284226047897322004-04-06T15:43:00.000-05:002004-04-06T15:47:31.483-05:00I had a couple of days whe my computer was working, so I managed to get a round of updates up o the web. The site is growing in a rather treeish fashion: it's only noticeable after some time.
Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1081029752205244982004-04-03T16:02:00.000-06:002004-04-03T16:06:14.140-06:00Technical difficulties with my computer mean no progress on the web site. I haven't been able to successfully power on and boot up since Tuesday. In the meantime, I have been working on a world-building project. I got stuck on the problem of global climate modeling, specifically associated with the distribution of temperature according to latitude.
It's not hard to do what's called a Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1080773208416529132004-03-31T16:46:00.000-06:002004-03-31T16:50:25.653-06:00 There are quite a few more interconnections at intermediate levels, but these still don't have the level of detail that would make the site really useful and interesting. There is still too much outline and not enough content.
The development scheme I was talking about consists of going through each page on the site, and having each one "vote" for the topic most needed to develop that Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1080418417070192242004-03-27T14:13:00.000-06:002004-03-27T14:17:09.123-06:00I was able to do some work on the development version. I've added pages on Mexico, Asiatic Religion, Philosophy, and the Earth-moon system. Most of what I was able to do involved adding more links to the peoples and nations pages to institutions, especially religion, to culture, and to anthropology. This isn't particularly exciting stuff, but it's necessary.
On the science end, major topics Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1080245030982620572004-03-25T14:03:00.000-06:002004-03-25T14:07:20.403-06:00My web site is back up! It is now possible to go to it and see what I am talking about. when I discuss new developments. There are quite a few more pages than there were when it went down at the end of January.
Unfortunately, the intermittent power-on problems with the computer I use for site development are getting worse, so when I will be able to make progress and add to the site is Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1080146443916511632004-03-24T10:40:00.000-06:002004-03-24T10:44:11.280-06:00I thought I had my web site reactivated, but for some reason I can't upload yet.
New pages are necessary for the base to progress, but they aren't useful at first, until they are better connected to other areas.
I've added a new page for the late-middle 20th century (1961-80). There still isn't enough content to it yet, since its connections have to be developed, first, but some of the Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1079988805572705612004-03-22T14:53:00.000-06:002004-03-22T14:56:51.030-06:00 In order for the priority balancing to work, I need to be careful with assigning the priorities. I found a bug in how I was applying it, and got that part worked out. In order to report on its progress, I need to keep track of which areas have been developed, which this scheme doesn't do well.
Overall, I have begun to make progress in my studies of current events. Treatment of peoplesConfutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1079643593227745372004-03-18T14:59:00.000-06:002004-03-18T15:03:12.340-06:00 I tried out this organizing, or call it a priority-balancing system, on a paper version of the site that I keep, and on the working version of my site. It seems to be working fairly well. I haven't been too happy with the way my choice of biographies as a starting point was leading my development priorities: I like the results I'm starting to get with this technique.
I get to jump around Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1079556100795492312004-03-17T14:41:00.000-06:002004-03-17T14:44:58.763-06:00One of the obstacles to my various attempts to organize my site is that it inevitably grows too big to do everything at once, so I have to break it into pieces, and since the number of possible connections between subjects goes up much faster than the number of subjects, it is not possible to have everything connected to everything.
Each particular subject has its own pattern of other subjects Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1079457447777434952004-03-16T11:17:00.000-06:002004-03-16T11:20:44.576-06:00I've been skipping around in the web site development process, didn't get as much done yesterday as in several days during the past week. Physics is going reasonably well. The structure of matter section gives leads and some incentive for the rest of physics. Chemistry needs more work on chemical changes and compounds, and I've only begun describing the elements. Astronomy is going to get more Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1079211469793224452004-03-13T14:57:00.000-06:002004-03-13T15:01:02.903-06:00I thought it was a bit early for allergy season...and it is, still. I got hit with a nasty beast of a head cold. Still no joy on a web host, but I'm going to work on it harder next week. I've reached a point where in every area on the site, the next step involves some rather tedious detail, but I need this in order to make the site actually useful.
Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1079042189013021742004-03-11T15:56:00.000-06:002004-03-11T15:59:38.653-06:00 I got through a cycle of updates and have quite a few more pages now in the area of science. Physics has some more useful equations, and I am starting to get some quantitative information in chemistry. Astronomy needs more detail and stronger connections to physics and chemistry: I'm going to skip glactic astronomy and cosmology in favor of the nearer sciences. Earth science and Biology Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1078956151577693482004-03-10T16:02:00.000-06:002004-03-10T16:05:40.590-06:00 I've been working on the site, trying to include information from the notes I've been taking. I've been moving a little beyond the science realm into what I call personal studies, including psychology and physiology, but these are connected to biology, which still needs Earth science, which still needs astronomy and chemistry, which needs more physics, and all I can manage to fit in is still Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1078777233995065062004-03-08T14:20:00.000-06:002004-03-08T14:23:39.920-06:00More notes on things I am studing more specifically. I need to take notes on stress and strain. This will be useful when I start working on solid materials in chemistry, and Bernoulli's equations for fluid dynamics, which are useful in the study of gases and liquids. I need to note my definitions for electric field and potential, and basic equations for electrical conductivity, and compute Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1078610461866799812004-03-06T16:01:00.000-06:002004-03-06T16:04:05.496-06:00I've been reviewing some of the concepts I need in science, starting with my particular divisions of physics. There's not a great deal in mechanics that I need, but there is some that is useful, especially Newton's law of gravitation and Kepler's 3rd. I may need to come back to this later. I'm really weak on electromagnetism, but since so much energy is carried by radiation, the basics of Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1078527824975898852004-03-05T17:03:00.000-06:002004-03-05T17:06:47.170-06:00I've skipped this for too long, in case anyone is reading it. My intention is to write every day except Sunday if I can manage it. I've been involved in Simcountry, and the various flaws and difficulties with it have turned my attention back to world building and simulation. This time I'm going at it from the other end, from the science end. and I have several pages of notes on useful equations Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1078268678941522962004-03-02T17:04:00.000-06:002004-03-02T17:07:37.046-06:00I like simulation games, so decided I'd check a few online simulations. I found one for national development: Simcountry, and one for the stock marcket, Global Stock Game.
I intended to do fictional stock investing with real corporations as somethings as an incentive to study them more, as if I really needed an incentive.
I watched the Academy Awards Sunday: Return of the King demonstrated Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1077908426874939472004-02-27T13:00:00.000-06:002004-02-27T13:03:19.250-06:00Finally, I got through that block, and I'm ready for the next round of developments. I will be looking for firmer dates on the origins of universities in medieval times, the discovery of Brazil, the founding of English colonies in the Americas, the origin of Harvard University, and other topics I don't clearly remember at the moment. In more recent times, I expect to push my histories of AmericanConfutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1077734432275702022004-02-25T12:40:00.000-06:002004-02-25T12:43:21.340-06:00Still slow going on assimilating web site updates, two more on saturday's list to go. I got in a bit of practical self-education yesterday when I had to help finish cutting up a pig carcass. I have zero experience as a butcher and I had practically no idea where to begin, so it took a lot longer than it would have done if I had a clue about what I was supposed to be doing.
Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1077641201339565012004-02-24T10:46:00.000-06:002004-02-24T10:49:28.810-06:00Still going slow on assimilating the bios I gathered recently. Until I get more done on this, I don't have a whole lot more to say, but it is becoming increasingly evident that I need to do more work in other areas of society besides government, although identifying the most prominent individuals is somewhat more difficult than it is for government.
Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1077410703676669072004-02-21T18:45:00.000-06:002004-02-21T18:47:47.546-06:00I've been gathering bios of recent government leaders; George HW Bush, Tony Blair and John Major of Britain, Chirac and Mitterand of France, Schroeder of Germany, Hu Jintao of China, and Vajpayee of India, along with summaries of some major events of the past 20 years. Next, I need to stare assimilating this information and putting it together. There are still some other directions I need to go.Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1077295086160109252004-02-20T10:38:00.000-06:002004-02-20T10:40:48.420-06:00Progress can be painfully slow, sometimes. I retrieved some basic info on Bill Clinton and Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation. I note that he had a career in the KGB up until the breakup of the USSR, and with its successor agency in the Russian Federation. He's had a comparatively low profile in world news that I've noticed.
Apparently he doesn't disassociate himself from the "Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1077160962371200492004-02-18T21:22:00.000-06:002004-02-20T09:54:50.606-06:00So far not much progress besides the entry on President Bush, but I have the late 20th century a little better connected to the United States. I'm also starting to look at areas of economics, specifically corporations. Have I mentioned yet that I have next to nothing on banking? Unfortunately, the number of areas that I want to study has a tendency to rise exponentially, while the amount of Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1077055153346599982004-02-17T15:59:00.000-06:002004-02-18T14:14:48.966-06:00I had intended to cycle through the site, mentioning the things I wanted to update and look into, but I don't think this approach is going to be very satisfactory. The basic idea is that I want to trace connections and fill in gaps, which involves a somewhat exploratory approach. So, I'm going to back up a little.
If I begin with the 21st century, the major events are largely associated with theConfutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1076959945207817212004-02-16T13:32:00.000-06:002004-02-16T13:35:02.216-06:00I was going to mention that there is some difficulty trying to connect current events with history. It's difficult to rate the historical significance of today's news, unless the person reading is has a sense of what is historical and likely to have lasting importance, and what is not. Even then, it may take a little bit of time to see what develops from a given event.
Generally speaking, I am Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1076699470724348352004-02-13T13:11:00.000-06:002004-02-13T13:13:43.733-06:00Ancient history before 500 BC is normally one of my more casual areas of interest, and I'm not at all certain that the dozen individuals I have are representative. I have a few people from Egypt, but not much from Babylonia. I have noticed that a lot of sources tend to focus on particular cultures, such as Babylonia and Egypt, and it's not easy to find a readable history of even the Ancient Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1076529518612065812004-02-11T13:58:00.000-06:002004-02-11T14:01:09.043-06:00 I finally have references to most of the Hart 100 plus alternates in my web site, though they aren't yet fully linked in. I may have mentioned that I don't entirely agree with his rankings or with his inclusions or exclusions. When the listing is broken down by nationality, it becomes evident that his list overlooks some fairly important individuals. Furthermore, it doesn't include the most Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1076348644344327862004-02-09T11:44:00.000-06:002004-02-11T14:01:39.576-06:00My web site is now inactive, and I don't know when I'll be able to get it back up. Depressing, but I've had worse setbacks in my life. In the meantime, I can work on the content even if it's not visible.
I'm not convinced that the talk of remposing decency standards on the American networks is going to go anywhere, for at least two reasons. 1) The recent Super Bowl incident is merely the latestConfutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1076096945869899822004-02-06T13:49:00.000-06:002004-02-06T13:51:28.700-06:00I've been reading in the local paper that there is still a continuing furor over the Super Bowl half-time show. Ummm...wasn't it Pope who said something about vice being something we endure, then pity, then embrace? Since I don't watch MTV (or much TV at all, for that matter), and don't worship at the shrine of the NFL, I missed it. Not that it was worth seeing in the first place, I gather.
Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1076018297490537542004-02-05T15:58:00.000-06:002004-02-05T16:00:38.936-06:00 Missed a day. I'm continuing to work on my site, although my access to it is in danger. I don't understand why a service that offers free hosting should require a payment to switch back to that plan if I try the enhanced version and miss a deadline for cancelling it and switching back to the free version. That's a good way to alienate new customers.
It looks like Kerry is well in the Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1075845998223709542004-02-03T16:06:00.000-06:002004-02-03T16:08:57.640-06:00Back in Nebraska. I got a request to link to another site: The Insight.com. I don't think I've made much of a point of religion or spirituality here, but since my religious and spiritual beliefs influence and shape all the others, they may be recognizable.
In any case, the site is one I can approve, so I've included the link.
I see no essential conflict beween learning and spirituality. In Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1075587174406136702004-01-31T16:12:00.000-06:002004-01-31T16:15:09.623-06:00I finally got to see Return of the King last night. My reaction--- decent movie, like the first and second, but I was spoiled by having read and loved the books first.
Going to be out of touch for a few days due to family business and returning to Nebraska.
I was trying to help someone with a calculus problem, and got stuck on it. Got the right symbols in the wrong combination: a sign Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1075438226301022802004-01-29T22:50:00.000-06:002004-01-29T22:52:38.653-06:00I got bitten by a virus last year when I got an unexpected e-mail that I thought was from someone I knew, and opened the attachment. So, when I get five e-mails with attachments from people whose addresses I don't recognize and with no clue about their contents, do I trust them? No, I do not. I'm getting traffic from spammers and bots... Maybe in another month or so, if traffic levels on my siteConfutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1075347741373152682004-01-28T21:42:00.000-06:002004-01-28T21:44:32.390-06:00Finally got a round of updates to the site: that's a weight off my mind. Even though my deadlines are self-imposed, it's stressful when I don't meet them. I owe it to visitors to make the site worth visiting.
That was part of the stress-causing unfinished business, and I addressed some of the other unfinished business, so the stress is back to bearable levels.
I might as well comment on Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1075261766476035902004-01-27T21:49:00.000-06:002004-01-27T21:51:36.046-06:00I've been watching the political fight in Iran, where the religious hard-liners disqualified many of the candidates for elective office, which could have led to the collapse of the government as ministers and even the president threatened to resign in protest. It looks like that is being averted.
Also, I would hope that the Iraqis will back off on the demand for early elections and accept the Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1075186984737778472004-01-27T01:03:00.000-06:002004-01-27T01:05:13.746-06:00Beign sick isn't fun, either: Nothing major, but multiple medium-level complaints have slowed me down the past few days. I brought copies of my website files with me so I can continue work on them between visits to family and friends and trips to the library, and got some updates accomplished. One of the friends I visited had seen the old site and commented that it was all outline and no Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1074979181489876702004-01-24T15:19:00.000-06:002004-01-24T15:21:46.950-06:0024 hour bus trips are not my idea of fun. I don't sleep well sitting up in moving vehicles in cramped conditions. Almost as bad was the loud orc-talk among some of the upper teenage or so passengers. A few of them tried to buy a beer at one of our 15-minute rest stops: I didn't think that was such a good idea when I heard their plans, but didn't say anything. Apparently the bus company think Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1074801163040019432004-01-22T13:52:00.000-06:002004-01-22T13:54:45.186-06:00I'm going to be visiting family in Utah for the next week and a half, so entries are going to be intermittent.
It's going to be difficult working on the site, also, since my internet access is uncertain and I may not be able to use all my tools, or have access to my references, but I'll do what I can.
Oh, I did finish rereading LOTR, and it's clearer why some people find it hard to read. But Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1074719197420644202004-01-21T15:06:00.000-06:002004-01-21T15:08:38.920-06:00More thoughts on self-education. I've been searching the net a little more carefully, and I am having difficulty finding much significant discussion of it. It looks like it would be a good idea to take some time to organize my thoughts on the subject.
One thing that schools do provide is organization, structure, and discipline, as well as certification that you have learned what you are Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1074631319220560432004-01-20T14:41:00.000-06:002004-01-20T14:43:58.856-06:00One of my comments that disappeared had to do with my thoughts on the difficulty of self-education. I tend to be interested in things that require specialist knowledge, such as the equations of motion for falling objects in a non-uniform gravitational field, the sublimation point of water in vacuum, the relationship of three-valued logic to modal logic, the history of russia's expansion into Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1074553830877681852004-01-19T17:10:00.000-06:002004-01-19T17:12:29.700-06:00 Someone on the WTM site was musing about whether to home school or find a tutor, and difficulties in getting her home-schooled child to study, which got me thinking about self-education versus formal schooling.
As a veteran at self-education, I have a respect for both. In many cases, formal schooling is preferable. Much like exploring a jungle...There be dragons (or crocodiles), and Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1074382572725416862004-01-17T17:36:00.000-06:002004-01-17T17:38:08.466-06:00Finally, three days later than I meant to, I have a new round of updates to the site, a noticeable growth spurt, including about three times as many links to other sources on the Web. There's more about what I'm trying to do with it and why, and so on. It's starting to draw visitors and the search engines are starting to direct people to it. Each round of updates should make it a little bit Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1074208411833733952004-01-15T17:13:00.000-06:002004-01-15T17:15:25.200-06:00My web site is an exercise in practical self education: I'm just getting started, trying to assimilate and understand what I am doing before I try to go more. I wanted to get another round of updates up today, but it looks like it isn't going to happen: I was working on concepts of self-education.
It frustrates me to see how many people have difficulty with math. Different people just think Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1074122402982445772004-01-14T17:20:00.000-06:002004-01-14T17:21:54.856-06:00Resaerching the internet. It drives my crazy, because the topics I'm interested in aren't quite exactly what I want to know. The way I organize material and think about it is just enough different from the way most people have done, that it's hard finding the exact keywords that turn up useful searches. Either there is too much information, or it's misdirected, or there isn't quite enough. ThisConfutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-10740387781430822004-01-13T18:06:00.000-06:002004-01-13T18:08:38.110-06:00I've been busy for a couple of days, composing a letter. That's right, a letter. I can't seem to write an ordinary letter without writing and rewriting, composing and recomposing, cutting and pasting, trying to get it to say *exactly* what I want to say. Then I get disappointed when no one finds what I've worked so hard over, interesting enough to read or somment on.
So, while I'm laboring Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1073767010417043372004-01-10T14:36:00.000-06:002004-01-10T14:37:10.680-06:00I In the barrage of people or things demanding our attention, what do we communicate by silence? I'm not talking about advertisements, or books or magazines. We routinely tune out what we are not interested in, and merchants don't take it personally. I'm not talking about personal communication, with people you know by name or face. What are you communicating when you don't respond? Anger? Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1073672570631540212004-01-09T12:22:00.000-06:002004-01-09T12:23:10.890-06:00 I notice that a mosque was bombed in Iraq; and blamed by some Iraqis on the Americans and Israelis. "It is impossible that Moslems should do this" commented one. Unfortunately, it's not so impossible. I have no doubt that the majority of Iraqis would want to blow up mosques, any more than Jews want to blow up synagogues or Americans blow up churches. But there is still that hate-filled Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1073586487245311662004-01-08T12:28:00.000-06:002004-01-08T12:28:27.070-06:00Skipped a day due to a trip out of town. I've been working heavily on my knowledge base, since it's comparatively just a seedling of what I want it to be. I tend to be extremely reserved about putting myself forward, so even though I know it's necessary to start actively publicizing my efforts, it's difficult to do so. I've started with gathering history sites, and once again I'm reminded of Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1073419688293521532004-01-06T14:08:00.000-06:002004-01-06T14:08:27.860-06:00 I was watching the efforts of Afghanistan to get a constitution approved: it seems that a version has made it through their convention without that breaking up, which is one hopeful sign. I hope it works. Meanwhile, I see miscellaneous reports that the resistance in Iraq is slowing down; the rate of causualties has slowed since the capture of Saddam, and the attacks that do occur have less Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1073334285862320242004-01-05T14:24:00.000-06:002004-01-05T14:30:57.306-06:00My web site is up!! Sapience Knowledge Base I got it loaded Friday night, but found that the server demands lower-case filenames, and most of mine were mixed case. It took me all day Saturday to all those problems fixed. I've been using HotMetal to create my web pages (I don't like Microsoft or its products, so I use them as little as I can get away with, sometimes out of necessity), and it tookConfutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1073077940446990772004-01-02T15:12:00.000-06:002004-01-02T15:13:31.390-06:00Partway there!. I have the domain name registered, (www. sapiencekb.com) but don't have the content uploaded yet. I don't see anything really worth commenting on in the news yet. It looks like predictions of Howard Dean's political demise with the capture of Saddam Hussein were premature. I just read "I'm a Soldier, Too", the Jessica Lynch story. It seems like very little of the hype that Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1072903677853655702003-12-31T14:47:00.000-06:002003-12-31T14:48:15.433-06:00I thought there should have been a way to put favorite links on my blog, but as nearly as I could tell it would have meant messing with the template, which I didn't want to do. So, I switched templates and I can put favorite links here.
Too bad there's no word yet from Beagle 2; it may have gone the way of the Mar Polar lander a couple of years ago. But there are a couple of more vehicles on Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1072822626980147322003-12-30T16:17:00.000-06:002003-12-30T16:17:24.643-06:00I don't have much to say about today's news, except to note that attacks on US troops appear to be down some 50% since Saddam's capture. It looks like the hard work the intelligence people have been doing on identifying the sources of the resistance is starting to pay off.
I've finally picked a Web host and plunked down for a Domain name registration, and unless there are problems, I should Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1072728212696309492003-12-29T14:03:00.000-06:002003-12-29T14:04:17.053-06:00Some thoughts on the latest news. There are reports that Saddam Hussein is naming names of who had knowledge of weapons caches and money in foreign banks. He is a known liar, so any information coming from him has to be confirmed, but he may be trying to plea bargain a death sentence. Trouble is, he's bargaining with American interrogators. If the Iraqi people are permitted to try him, I don't Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1072557571147234352003-12-27T14:39:00.000-06:002003-12-27T14:39:47.600-06:00Doing more work on my web site. I find that adding people is helping drive its development. I'm more or less adding them in order of Hart's ranking, even though I don't always agree with his ranking, and I have no unambiguous criteria for rating someone's influence.
I do a lot of reading. Recently, "Bush at War", "Master and Commander", "Sense and Sensibility", and "Exploration of Africa", plusConfutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1072477510585941182003-12-26T16:25:00.000-06:002003-12-26T16:25:27.000-06:00After months of buildup, it only takes a few days for Christmas to be forgotten for another year. Next up, New Year's Day, and then getting through the winter.
I have started working on a web site again. The most active parts of it are dealing with significant individuals in history, and connecting them to other areas of study. I'm looking at the individuals mentioned in Hyperhistory, but Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1072287181076983682003-12-24T11:33:00.000-06:002003-12-24T11:34:35.636-06:00 Work on yesterday's entry was interrupted. I was looking through more pages on Jesus genealogy, and it strikes me again how much partisan bias goes into some of the discussions. There is a real difference in attitude and approach between "don't know" (for sure), which prompts a search for missing information, and a partisan "don't believe" which excludes relevant information. This applies toConfutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1072210066686500602003-12-23T14:07:00.000-06:002003-12-24T11:18:14.540-06:00Mention of Jesus as a historical figure tends to lead into religious disputes, which I would prefer to avoid as much as possible, but it does lead into the middle of human history. Nevertheless, many of the prominent and influential people of the world have been religious more than political.
No one knows for sure if the US can successfully set up a postwar government in Iraq, but the intentionConfutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1072128585807682052003-12-22T15:29:00.000-06:002003-12-23T13:57:45.210-06:00Most of the events that will prove most significant to future generations go quietly unnoticed, while many that gather much current attention are comparatively insignificant. I may follow TV Guide and do some cheers and jeers of my own. Cheers to Egypt, for its relative moderation and attempts to mediate and tone down the violence in the Middle East. As I recall, it was Anwar Sadat of Egypt who Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1072117683498450782003-12-20T12:15:00.000-06:002003-12-22T15:31:18.120-06:00WeekendFollowing the news can be depressing. With all the violence and unrest in the world, we sometimes need a reminder that only a few agitators get most of the media attention.
I expect that Saddam Hussein will be still be in the news for a while, as long as US troops remain in Iraq, but his capture should help unravel the network of supporters that are still causing trouble. Next, it seems likely Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1071861503138294222003-12-19T13:18:00.000-06:002003-12-19T13:54:36.810-06:00OrganizationI did a little digging into prehistory and got as far as the connection between Neandarthals and modern humans, but I'm setting this aside for now. Generally, I prefer to do research going the other direction, from the known to the unknown, so I hope to start with some historical perspective on current news. One of the quickest ways to keep up with current events is to follow something like USA Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1071767575760735532003-12-18T11:12:00.000-06:002003-12-18T11:15:00.943-06:00News on the X-Prize front. Bert Rutan at Scaled Composites has another aviation first: His "Spaceship One" is the first private design to break the sound barrier. Congrats!!
Just to get it out of the way, I'm going to lay out the rest of the top level of my scheme for organizing knowledge. Then, I can dig into more details later.
According to sociologists, societies are characterized by five Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1071691117438580282003-12-17T13:58:00.000-06:002003-12-17T14:00:42.093-06:00It occurs to me that I haven't provided any way to interact with anyone who might be reading this. When I had my own web site, the spambots managed to find my address, and I got the typical deluge. So far, they haven't yet found the one I provided for those interested in my work on three-valued logic
The next step down from the "big questions" is human history. Although I believe that there Confutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1071598529412148792003-12-16T12:15:00.000-06:002003-12-16T12:23:24.320-06:00If a specialist is someone who knows more and more about less and less until, in the limit, he knows everything there is to know about absolutely nothing at all, then a generalist must be someone who knows less and less about more and more until he knows nothing at all about absolutely everything. How either one differs from someone who knows nothing about anything, I'm not sure.
But never mindConfutusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210723.post-1071519430762409302003-12-15T14:17:00.000-06:002003-12-15T14:49:51.690-06:00Hello, World!
A pretty lame start, but it works for beginning computer programmers.
I'm going to blame C.J. Cherryh for getting me started on this. It was all her fault for putting a blog on her web site, and since I'm better at writing things in my journal than crafting SF stories, I thought. "why not?". Whether I have anything as interesting to say remains to be seen.
I'm actuallyConfutusnoreply@blogger.com