The Things They Carried
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
Best New Horror: Volume 25 (Mammoth Book of Best New Horror)
All posts by Greg Laden
Make Your Own Pixel Art
First, what is “pixel art?”
Is that just art that is rendered in raster? Not exactly. Pixel art is the sort of art you draw for digital cartoons or similar things. The skills and tools of making pixel art would apply to designing icons or logos used in electronic products as well.
To demonstrate what pixel art is, I’m including a few examples from the newly published Make Your Own Pixel Art: Create Graphics for Games, Animations, and More!
This book will give you an introduction to the tricks of the trade of making technologically simply but artistically potent drawings, including ways to animate them.
The non-OpenSource (boo) software that is used throughout the book is not expensive and is easy to use, and yes, OpenSource alternatives are suggested and briefly discussed. The book relies on Aseprite and Pro Motion, with GraphcsGale (Windows only, boo) being a free alternative.
Techniques covered include shading, texture, proper use of color, motion and animation, and making things look sentient. Apparently, you can make money doing this sort of thing! This book is probably a good investment, at the very least to see if you have the talent and interest.
Author Jennifer Dawe is an animator and character designer who has been a professional pixel artist for the past 15 years. Author Matthew Humphries is Senior Editor at PCMag.com and a professional game designer.
Little Myth on the Prairie
I have been slowly and steadily working on a project that involves an old topic of interest: the dynamic changes in society, economy, and settlement pattern as Euro-Americans ensnared the middle and western parts of the continent in their material and political net of civilization, sometimes known as the Westward Expansion. And for this reason, I came across a book, a NYT Book Review “Best Ten” for 2017, of interest, that happens also to be on sale cheap in Kindle format.
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
As pointed out in a review by Patricia Nelson Limerick, the exploitation and eastward shipping, for profit, of bison hides and precious metals (and everything in between) was not the only gig in the west. The story itself, the stories of pioneering, gun fighting, Indian, er, relations, and everything else, collected in situ and refined through the myth-mills of the publishing industry, amounted to a significant and valuable commodity. One of the most productive ore lodes of daring narrative in the plains and midwest was the one tapped by Laura Ingalls Wilder via the Little House series, and other tales. Also, her daughter was in on it.
Prairie Fires pulls back the switch-grass curtain. To quote from PNL’s review:
Rendering this biography as effective at racking nerves as it is at provoking thought, the story of Wilder’s emergence as a major sculptor of American identity pushes far past the usual boundaries of probability and plausibility. For anyone who has drifted into thinking of Wilder’s “Little House” books as relics of a distant and irrelevant past, reading “Prairie Fires” will provide a lasting cure. Just as effectively, for readers with a pre-existing condition of enthusiasm for western American history and literature, this book will refresh and revitalize interpretations that may be ready for some rattling. Meanwhile, “Little House” devotees will appreciate the extraordinary care and energy Fraser brings to uncovering the details of a life that has been expertly veiled by myth. Perhaps most valuable, “Prairie Fires” demonstrates a style of exploration and deliberation that offers a welcome point of orientation for all Americans dismayed by the embattled state of truth in these days of polarization.
-Patricia Nelson Limerick, review, The New York Times
How Old Is The Universe?
According to this paper, which I have no idea what it says, the Earth may be about 12.5 billion years old. This is younger than the previously favored answer, which put the universe at 13.8 billion years old.
More precisely, or actually, less precisely, the lead author on that paper says that the universe may be between 12.5 and 13 billion years old.
So, that hold-the-date card they sent out for the 14 billion year anniversary of the universe? Keep it tacked to the fridge for now, but be prepared to pencil in a new date.
CIA Secrets and Bill Bryson on English
A lot of people like this book. I found it to be OK. But it is cheap for Kindle, so knock yourself out (but if you live in Minnesota, pronounce the ‘k’ in ‘knock.’): The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got that Way
And, the book we have all been waiting to be declassified: The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception
Once a top-secret training manual for CIA field agents in the early Cold War Era of the 1950s, The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception is now available to the general public. An amazing historical artifact, this eye-opening handbook offered step-by-step instructions to covert intelligence operatives in all manner of sleight of hand and trickery designed to thwart the Communist enemy. Part of the Company’s infamous MK-ULTRA—a secret mind-control and chemical interrogation research program—this legendary document, the brainchild of John Mulholland, then America’s most famous magician, was believed lost forever. But thanks to former CIA gadgeteer Bob Wallace and renowned spycraft historian H. Keith Melton, The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception is now available to everyone, spy and civilian alike.
Feynman book, Michener book
Representing two ends of the spectrum of size of things, these books are now cheap in Kindle format now:
Dem Vs Trump: How are we doing?
There is a new poll pitting various Democrats against Trump. Before you complain to me that we should not be looking at polls because it is not election day, think again and take note of the fact that polls are data and I’m a data-oriented scientist, so don’t even say that to me. (I’m working on a post that will serve as an answer to that complaint every time it comes up on Facebook)
Anyway, this is a Quinnipiac University poll taken in Pennsylvania. Quinnipiacis a good poll. Details are here. Also note that I’m not posting this poll because its results show something I want to push, or use to cause your hair to burst into flames. I’ve not looked at the results, yet here I am writing this blog post. I will now look at the results, figure out a good way to show them to you, then finish the post. brb.
The poll has a LOT of interesting data that will figure as important down the road as the number of candidates cull out and we get to see the results of a bunch of natural experiments (like, which non-dropping out candidate tends to accrete which demographic as they drift away from dropper-outer-candidates).
But here is what the head to head shows:
These results vary considerably when adjusting for age, gender, and race. Note that in this sort of matchup, reaching above 50 is considered by pollsters as a sort of magic number. Only Biden does that here, but Sanders is (obviously) vert close.
I think the most important message here is this: The candidates do not vary much in this very early indication of their electability, even if they vary a great deal in how they rank among Democrats.
Putting aside the head to head and looking at some of the other data, among registered democrats, Biden has 39% support, Sanders has 13% support, with Harris, Warren at 8%, Buttigieg at 6%, Booker at 5%, O’Rourke at 2%, and Klobuchar at 1%. Nobody else registers. Someone else has dropped, interesting, to an apparent low at 2%. I’m thinking people realized, “no, no, NOT someone else, pleasssseee!!!”
Again, that varies by age, gender, race, etc. Among the young, Biden and Sanders are essentially tied (Biden just ahead, 29-27), while among the old, Sanders barely registers and Biden swoops (Biden: 47%, Sanders 4%). Putting both Biden and Sander aside for a moment, and digging into the demographic weeds, Harris, Warren, and Buttigieg pop among those with higher incomes (Sanders gets very little support there, Biden plenty). Harris pops among older folks, Booker and Buttigieg do a bit better with younger folks. Liberals like Buttigieg and Warren.
Discussion of Abortion Law on Maddow
You don’t see this too often. An “expert,” in this case a journalist that covers the issue, presents a case, and Rachel Maddow looks at her like, “what, are you nuts or something?” then politely tells her so.
Starting after about 8:20.
I’m thinking they are both probably right.
Speaking of Tolkien and Cannibals… cheap books
Perhaps prompted by the news of a Tolkien biographical movie, this book — J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
And as long as I’m mentioning cheap Kindle books, and since cannibalism is a common theme here, see: Man-Eater: The Life and Legend of an American Cannibal
And I know some of you like Sue Grafton, so S is for Silence: A Kinsey Millhone Novel
Update on Mechanical Keyboards
All keyboards are “mechanical” in some sense, or at least most of them, in that something moves. But what we call a “mechanical keyboard” is one that has individual switches under each key cap, instead of some sort of silly squishy membrane. This gives the keys a different tactile sense, and often, a sound.
This post — Mechanical Keyboards What Are They And Which One Do You Want — is a little, but not too much, out of date. The basic information is correct. There are one or two more kinds of keys than described, and there are emerging manufacturers that may or may not be making good switches, and there are many more offerings of el-cheapo keyboards. And, still, the DasKeyboard is still one of the better (and more expensive) options.
My Avant Stellar keyboard finally broke in enough places (I’m tough on keyboards) to require major repair or replacement. I looked briefly at really old Northgates (20-30 years old?) on ebay, bid on a few, but was outbid and decided not to spend an exorbitant amount of money on a decades old untested machine. I also realized that I have two computers sitting next to each other, and when I change between them, it feels wrong, because they have two entirely different kinds of keyboards. But, I realized, if I get a new DasKeyboard for my Linux machine, since I have a Mac DasKeyboard on the Mac, then I would quickly become accustomed to switching back and forth and all would be well. So, I got the Das Keyboard Model S Professional Cherry MX Blue 
Except possibly one thing. You may recal that I had earlier complained about the font used on the key caps on the DasKeyboards. At the time, I used stick on labels to upgrade the DasKeyboard to how I like it. For some reason, as I sit here typing on the new DasKeyboard with the small typeface that I don’t like much, I’m not bothered by it, so I may not make that change. We’ll see.
So now all is well in keyboard land, and my pile of no longer in use keyboards available for spare parts grows.
Tolkien, The Movie
I’ve been reading Huxley (9) LOTR
Anyway, vaguely apropos of that, there is this:
Should be interesting and, of course, highly controversial, as are all things LOTR.
Failing to Gasp the Gun Debate
That is not a typo there in the title of this piece. I don’t mean grasp, I mean gasp. Listen. Continue reading Failing to Gasp the Gun Debate
The Mueller Report As A Searchable PDF File
This is imperfect but, well, here it is, in several parts.
This is the scanned part with the searchable text along side it. It is split into many files because the original scans are so large. You can search across several files using a variety of searching tools on any given computer system. Adobe Acrobat may work for you on some OSs.
Mueller Report Searchable Part 01
Mueller Report Searchable Part 02
Mueller Report Searchable Part 03
Mueller Report Searchable Part 04
Mueller Report Searchable Part 05
Mueller Report Searchable Part 06
Mueller Report Searchable Part 07
Mueller Report Searchable Part 08
Mueller Report Searchable Part 09
Mueller Report Searchable Part 10
Mueller Report Searchable Part 11
Enjoy!
Here is the Mueller Report (with redactions)
The report is huge because, instead of being a searchable PDF file, it is a file of 448 pictures of a report. For the record, AJ Barr is pretty much of a dickhead for releasing the report in this form. From a technological point of view, that is obstruction of public justice.
Anyway, here it is in 11 bite size parts:
Enjoy! I’ve only started to read it, but boy, is it interesting. Every page so far.
There is a lot more to come in this saga. I recommend, if you are reading this on the first day or two of the report’s release, try to ignore what everyone is saying. Give the experts a chance to actually read the damn thing, rather than being forced by their producers to say something interesting about a VERY DENSE 448 page report when the printer is still hot.
Notre-Dame de Paris has burned
To my friends and loved ones in and of Paris, and of France, I am so very very sorry.
Notre-Dame de Paris has burned. This is a real tragedy. Time will tell how bad the damage is, but we already know enough to say that if this structure stands again on the Île de la Cité, it will be mostly as a reconstructed, not restored, cathedral.
There is a mere handful of sites that if destroyed by fire would be as tragically destroyed, because of its architecture and history. The building was built between 1163 and 1345 and served as a keystone center for the same exact civilization so many of us, on this day and in this year, strive to save and also change for the better.
I am a member of a large community of atheists, and I’m sure the vast majority of my atheist friends join in lamenting this loss. For the small subset who will find this to be not a tragedy, because the building is merely a building, or because it has housed the high ceremony of European oppression, or because anything Catholic is simply worthy of disdain, please read this post about the significance and the sanctity of the Dead Sea Scrolls to an atheist such as myself, and you can substitute a centuries-old iconic Catholic church in Paris for a library of ancient writings on the Dead Sea.
Vive La France.