Chaos Magnet

I want to be like Richard

I was first introduced to Richard Feynman in college, when our Quantum Dynamics class used his QED as its textbook, along with selections from The Feynman Lectures. Richard Feynman was a genious who, to me, was at his best when he was completely out of his element. Feynman was the one who solved the question of what happened to the Space Shuttle Challenger. After being stonewalled by NASA officials and scientists who wouldn't tell him what would happen to the O-Rings if they got cold, he solved the problem by asking for a sample, and then, at a commission hearing, dipping it ice water and shattering it on the table. He was constantly trying to solve problems that may have had nothing to do with physics (at first glance) from parallel computer processing to getting invited to a remote villiage at the center of Asia without using his reputation for assistance.

That's what I loved about him when I was reading QED, and that's what I love about him now. He can take something tremendously complicated and boil it down to the essentials in a way that anyone can undestand it. I've always strived to be that way. In fact, I've always joked that I make thing simple for a living. This quote from Richard Feynman and The Connection Machine (a fascinating portrait of how he worked) says it best:

Because even when Richard didn't understand, he always seemed to understand better than the rest of us. And whatever he understood, he could make others understand as well. Richard made people feel like a child does, when a grown-up first treats him as an adult. He was never afraid of telling the truth, and however foolish your question was, he never made you feel like a fool.

If people can say that about me, I'll consider myself a success.

Furl.net: Permanent bookmarks

Here's something interesting: Furl.net gives you a way to save permanent bookmarks that you can then share and search. Kind of like a blog without comment.

Just one more bit of weirdness

So I've got just one more piece to finish, and I'll have officially left my job with Studio B. More on that later, but in case you were thinking that chaos would let that one go by, I just lost about an hour of work time. Why?

A four foot rattlesnake on my front porch.

Nobody was hurt, thankfully, but this was one time I was glad Ferret was here. Apparently he used to raised them for medical purposes, and he has a friend who milks them. So in case you're ever faced with this kind of situation, here's what you do, assuming that you have two people. (Remember, I'm not a professional. Proceed at your own risk.)

Take a long -- in our case, about 8 feet -- PVC pipe. Ours was 1", and it seemed to work well. Thread a rope through it so that you have a loop on one side and you can pull it tight on the other side. Loop the rope around its neck -- hopefully you can do it without getting right up on to it, like Ferret did -- pull it tight with a slow but steady motion, and pick it up in the air. Place it in a pillowcase, head first if necessary, and spin the pillowcase before tying it off in a knot.

Then go sit down and relax until you stop shaking.

I suppose shorter pipes and one-man jobs are just as possible, I just would rather not have the opportunity to try it again.

Enough hurricanes already!

Hurricane Charley hit my grandparents. Frances hit us, but thankfully had to cross the state before it got here, so I just lost one tree, which blessedly fell away from the house. Now it seems we're in the direct path of Ivan, which has been upgraded to a category five. After what I saw in Punta Gorda, I'm off to board up the remaining windows.

Colorado's looking better every day.