2011 — 6 August: Saturday

There's nothing1 quite like a nice, bracing quote from Paul Krugman on some mornings, is there?

On one hand, there is a case to be made that the madness of the right has made America a fundamentally unsound nation. And yes, it is the madness of the right: if not for the extremism of anti-tax Republicans, we would have no trouble reaching an agreement that would ensure long-run solvency.
On the other hand, it's hard to think of anyone less qualified to pass judgment on America than the rating agencies. The people who rated subprime-backed securities are now declaring that they are the judges of fiscal policy? Really?
Just to make it perfect, it turns out that S&P got the math wrong by $2 trillion, and after much discussion conceded the point — then went ahead with the downgrade.

Paul Krugman in The NYT


Interesting to see that the BBC, in lifting this nugget, omitted the last sentence. But then, what's a couple of trillion dollars between friends on Wall Street, heh? I stand by yesterday's assessment. It's definitely the silly season out there. Do I look bothered? My new toy has just (09:40) arrived.

Don't you hate it when...

... necessarily deferred gratification kicks in? This is after you

That's not to say I haven't taken it out for a little stroll through its settings and facilities, though so far without managing to finish connecting to the clearly 'visible' (and excellent reported signal strength) set of wireless waves emanating from the new ADSL2 modem / router upstairs. Lack of wirelessness — if it continues2 — is going to be a major inhibitor to a successful and happy relationship. Where did I put my reprogramming axe, Eddie?

Still, at least it's pre-loaded with a copy of "Alice in Wonderland" as an ebook if all else fails.

After noon already

I listened, with growing distaste, to today's 'emergency' edition of BBC Radio 4's "Money Box" featuring the usual suspects (jackals, hyenas, and vultures to a man, if you ask me) waffling about sound investment strategies. Does it ever occur to them to wonder how a finite planet can sustain perpetual growth? Apparently not. Maybe it's just me. Though why anyone thinks financial advisors can see beyond their own commission income or have any but their own interests at heart baffles me. And always has.

I have to admit, the battery charging (currently 45%) would probably have got further by now if I'd made absolutely sure that the plug I had to plug together had been plugged together by somebody capable of checking that it had been properly plugged together. Still, at least it's now getting warm, which I take to be a Good Thing. Indeed, the Tablet PC actually made a brief appearance on my network but is now once again showing as "offline". Investigations will continue. But not until I've recharged myself with a bite to eat.

I concede the cuteness of the bee...

EeePad

... but harbour grave reservations about my ability to use all ten digits on the end of my wrists. Nor would I wish to meet the bird whose feathers weigh two-thirds of a kilo.

Try anything once...

... except incest and Morris dancing, of course. So I disinterred that little (and mighty little-used) earlier Asus box. I was interested in seeing if it could talk to my current wireless network. Turns out it doesn't do any better than its new stable-mate, which is a bit worrying.

However, while I was trying it, it occurred to me that it could itself make a very satisfactory (and very low-energy) web server for use just within Technology Towers. I hadn't realised — until Len showed me the other day — just how very little 'cpu' I was actually using on my dual-core 64-bit Athlon in that medium-sized HP MPC I bought at reduced price in Comet a couple of weeks after my first Asus toy PC. As he put it, I was using more cpu while it was showing me how much cpu I was using than I was when it was serving a couple of web pages across the wires hereabouts.

Coming to you from a Transformer! Thank you, Len!!! [Pause] My first webserver update carried out entirely wirelessly and all via the Tablet PC. A bit clunky, but a perfect proof of concept.

Reflections

It's now 20:16 and after wolfing down an overdue and very enjoyable venison stew with apricots and juniper — a tastebud experiment that worked very well — I've been wondering (and trying to remember) when I was last so impressed and delighted with a piece of new technology.

The wireless network difficulties appear most likely to have been caused by adjacent channel interference from one of my neighbours, so I've shifted channels, thereby increasing network speed from 1Mbps to around 65Mbps. With Len's considerable help (for the bits he's already grappled with) and on a mutual ice-breaking voyage of discovery (for the bits new to both of us) I've now set up successful secure FTP read/write access to my webservers. I've also found and installed a perfectly adequate free HTML file editor with decent markup. After some considerable struggle (basically flying on instruments and intuition) I've managed to set up Gmail access to both my email userids and collected and sent test mail. I now know how to upgrade the level of Android (I'm on 3.2) and how to search the Apps store for more goodies.

One of the two Ethernet-to-USB dongles that Brian kindly dug out and dropped round just before heading off in his Romahome for the weekend seems very likely to yield ultimate success in the search for faster-than-wireless networking. Though only when I've learned the arcane incantation Win7 insists one must use for mapping an SSD card on the Tablet to be seen as a network drive on BlackBeast. It will be easier simply to connect the Tablet temporarily via one of its USB ports directly to BlackBeast to move bulk data across.

I'm getting steadily more used to screen touching and gesturing to manipulate the UI, and am already now starting to think that the 24" screen I'm currently once again using is gigantic. Still, at least I haven't been trying to use it as a touchscreen yet.

  

Footnotes

1  Except, of course, a nice, bracing cuppa.
2  Len's Transformer, which has an updated level of Android, managed to talk to my wireless network so, if all else fails, I suppose I can do the upgrade over at his house and then bring the blighter back here for another "go".