2013 — 12 June: Wednesday
Having just finished patching the Laptop PC1 I can return my attention to the cuppa, the prospect of some breakfast, and the ineffable whichness of the why. In this case, why's it so moist out there? The 'garden' needs little enough encouragement as it is to revert to its jungle tendencies. Bits of rain and sunshine do not help.
A decade ago...
... Curtis White was very successfully entertaining me with his well-argued (and wittily described) suggestions2 that North American consumer culture was turning us into the Living Dead...
... several years before the whole "Twilight" phenomenon, remember — of which I was a great fan, but let that pass :-)
Well, Mr White's back, and being given rather a rough ride in this review of his latest book "The Science Delusion". Source and snippet:
Rather like [Thomas] Nagel, but angrier, is the novelist and critic Curtis White. Though neither a research scientist nor a trained philosopher, he is infuriated by the sunny confidence of neuroscience, arguing that it is not just a product of ambitious overreach but, more, a willful act of arrogance. In his rambling book "The Science Delusion," he writes that the coming battle in this neo-Darwinian culture war will be an all-out assault against imagination by scientists and popular science journalists: "Freed at last from the limits imposed by religion, science has extended its ambitions beyond the debunking of Christian dogma. It has now turned its attention to another old competitor, the secular world of the humanities and the arts."
Forgive me; I must ask. How exactly does one become a "trained philosopher"? Now, if you'll excuse me, it seems I have a Synology NAS box to stuff full of hard drive goodness and introduce to my network.
It's currently setting up and 'scrubbing' the single volume I intend to use, duplicated on both physical discs, of course...
... and is evidently going to be at it for several hours to come. No matter — I'm retired, you know. Besides, it's time to start thinking about lunch.
Minor irritation
The external LG 'super multi' DVD writer has yet again forgotten how to work via Firewire. If it ever forgets how to work via USB that will be it. At which point — who knows? — perhaps I'll try one of these new-fangled Blu-ray devices. Meanwhile, Mr Synology is now 3% through its parity consistency checking. [Pause] Acting on a hint received, I've just tried a different Firewire cable and all is now happiness once again. Meanwhile Mr Synology has managed 11.9% of its checking. Time (16:40) for my next cuppa, methinks.
I think I take...
... exception to this casual aside at the start of a review of a new catchily-named 60" Panasonic plasma TV:
... even if/though I am, myself, a museum-piece.
If midnight approaches...
... can Parity Consistency Checking take much longer? Apparently so, as it's currently still only at 31.75%. I shall simply leave it to continue overnight and for the greater part of tomorrow.