Writerly

It is known

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:16:18 -0700

Context: Game of Thrones, Dothraki expression. e.g. “Dragons are extinct. It is known.”

It has a nice ironic resonance. The use of the passive voice is quaintly overconfident, a sly tactical evasion of responsibility for whatever is claimed: it’s not *me* that knows, it is … other people, everyone. Ask anyone! It’s the same as “everyone knows that!” but more emphatic and clever: it IS known, dammit, and that’s all there is to it!

So I will be using it ironically from time to time, as a snarky response to overconfident declarations — subtler than a facepalm.

The rest of the internet is full of it!

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:07:59 -0700

Cranky critics of SaveYourself.ca often say I’m “close minded” because I don’t present “all views.” As if I’m ethically obliged to defend theirs! (That’s a tired, simplistic application of the notion of journalistic balance. Like I’m a news anchor or something.)

Accusing anyone who disagrees with you of being close-minded: now that is a closed mind!

My job is to write about science-based self-help for common pain problems. That’s the perspective I have devoted myself to studying and articulating. If readers want a different point of view…hey, the rest of the internet is full of it.

Libel reform well underway in England

Tue, 15 May 2012 06:46:33 -0700

Fantastic news! England is finally starting to fix its awful libel laws, and it’s the best news I’ve heard in years. Sometimes the world actually gets saner. I have had personal experience with some legal bullying, and so this dry legal news feels quite juicy and personal to me.

What’s the difference between legitimate criticism and libel? It doesn’t matter — it costs critics too much to make their case in court, so all it takes to shut most critics up is an inexpensive accusation. Legal bullying goes on all the time. Many writers have been silenced and cowed by the threat of an unjust lawsuit they begin to afford to defend themselves against. Many assume they are safe because their cause is just and they could win in court, but it’s not until they face an actual libel lawsuit that they begin to realize that winning means spending triple your retirement savings on a legal fees. Being “right” can start to feel pretty hollow when you can’t remotely afford to prove it.

This problem is everywhere to some degree, but English law favours bullies to an absurd degree, and the costs of defense are astronomical — many times what it costs anywhere else. This gave rise to the bizarre practice of “libel tourism”: suing anyone from anywhere in England.

Science writer Simon Singh started the push for reform after he was sued by the British Chiropractic Association for criticizing their members. Years later, it looks like English libel law is actually going to get fixed. Kirsty Hughes, Chief Executive, Index on Censorship: “Finally, the government is to stop libel tourism so wealthy foreign claimants can no longer use our High Court to silence their critics abroad.” It’s not over yet, but it’s looking really promising.

Follow #LibelReform on Twitter.

Bluetooth pairing on Mac: always a hassle

Sat, 12 May 2012 09:28:00 -0700

Bluetooth pairing (of wireless keyboards, mice, trackpads) in OS X is just a mess: unreliable, unclear, hassle-y. Thought I was going to have to switch to wired keyboard to post this gripe!

I paired my keyboard to my iPad at a coffee shop, and when I came home it was the usual pain in the arse to get it to talk to my Mac again. First the Mac can’t “find” the keyboard, even though it’s clearly on, and it won’t find it until you turn it off and on again, which is not as straightforward as you might think, because you have to HOLD the power button to turn it off, which is counter-intuitive. When the Mac finally does “find” the keyboard, then it starts failing to “pair” with it, but there are no error messages — it just doesn’t do it, and all you can do is curse and try again. As usual, I just ended up trying over and over again until eventually, on the 6th try, it worked.

I have absolutely no idea what changed. I never do.

It is not obvious whether the Apple wireless keyboard and trackpad are on or off to begin with. (The mouse has a toggle, so simply does not have this issue — it’s state is physically represented and unambiguous.)

On the keyboard, the light comes ON when you press, but then you have to hold it for a surprisingly long time before the light turns off. It is then off … but it looks the same as when it was on. When it is on, there is actually no obvious way to verify that it is on. (There is a way, but it’s non-obvious, and I forget between incidents.) And when it is off, there is also no easy way to confirm that. However, even when it is on, OS X may not “find” it — leading to the rather natural question, “Is it really on?” Which you can’t confidently confirm. And so on…

Finally, there is a substantial complication! There are two ways to turn it on! You can press once, and after a brief delay when you wonder if anything happened, the light comes on … or you can press and hold for a LONG TIME, and the power light starts flashing: which is a pairing mode. Even though it seems to be highly relevant, this is not mentioned in any way shape or form in the bluetooth connection window. Nor does it actually seem to be NECESSARY, as you CAN connect without it!

Confusing!

The Station Agent ★★★★★ Peter Dinklage (long) before Game of Thrones

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:18:40 -0700

Do you ❤ Peter Dinklage in Game Of Thrones? See him in this excellent, quirky, mellow 2003 film, The Station Agent.

starwarsanyone: Sith Army Knife Oh internet

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:25:24 -0700

starwarsanyone:

Sith Army Knife

Oh internet

Googling Your Own Brain: How (and why) to build your own everything database

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:42:17 -0700

Googling Your Own Brain: How (and why) to build your own everything database:

This very geeky article for productivity nuts, writers, researchers etc has been more popular than I expected. So I’ve just given it a good editing. It is a somewhat bigger and funnier than before, and integrates some of the lessons I’ve learned over the last couple years of intensive file system management.

Tor does the smart, right thing: DRM-free, baby

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:16:08 -0700

Tor does the smart, right thing: DRM-free, baby:

DRM-free SF&F from a great publisher! This must be encouraged! Go: buy a book published by Tor! So great!

Everything Must Go ★★★★☆ Pleasingly simple, engaging

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:07:11 -0700

Will Ferrell pulls off earnest drama in a pleasingly simple, engaging character-study. Respectable use of comic skills in dramatic context.

"These aren’t the conclusions you’re looking for."

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:01:27 -0700

“These aren’t the conclusions you’re looking for.”

A Bond To Last A Lifetime, One Year Later

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 17:14:39 -0700

A Bond To Last A Lifetime, One Year Later:

Read/see this: almost anything you’re feeling bad about will feel at least a little bit better.

iPod Nano ★★★★★ Brilliant!

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:20:54 -0700

Best iPod shape yet: the nano is tiny enough for extreme portability, yet the screen is surprisingly adequate and the user interface is easy and efficient. Very mature product.

exterum: 057 by C.S. Drake on Flickr.

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:45:02 -0700

exterum:

057 by C.S. Drake on Flickr.

Ghost Protocol ★★★☆☆ Over-rated!

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:44:40 -0700

I’d give it a 2.5 stars, but I don’t have a half star. Pegg and Renner are fun. But daft, trite plotting, going through the spy movie motions. Or maybe not even that, because what’s a spy movie without a good villain? And this one had quite possibly the blandest, most forgettable villain ever.

Astronomy hobby rebooted!

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 07:57:00 -0700

I’ve lived in downtown Vancouver for a decade now, and the light pollution has mostly killed my favourite hobby: I used to be an amateur astronomer. I was pretty into it. I had an 8” reflector on a great, simple Dobsonian mount. I put in enough time with that thing back in the day that, even now, I could probably still star hop my way to some cool deep sky objects on trails of 8th magnitude landmarks. I still have my constellations down cold — I don’t think that will ever change — and I can still reel off a lot star names and fun astronomy facts. When I look up, I have a pretty good idea what I’m looking at. (And thanks for all that, Dad!)

My iPad may now breathe a new sort of life into my old hobby.

I always liked armchair astronomy just as much as doing it. I saw the potential for amazing astronomy apps quite early, but some of the earlier ones were a bit of a disappointment and I kind of dropped it for a while. But after giving the tech another year? And with a new, high-resolution iPad? It was time to check in on the state of the astronomy apps.

Thanks to a MacWorld article reviewing apps that look great on the new iPad’s Retina display, I tried out Solar Walk ( … and then quickly discovered Star Walk and SkySafari as well. And wow: astronomy apps have been coming right along. I spent a giddy hour tapping and scrolling furiously around these apps last night. My brain was pumping out exclamations at a steady clip:

Whoa, cool!

Ooooh!

This is so great!

Oooh, good idea.

Niiiiice.

This is so great!

Whoa.

Whoa! Neat. Wow. So neat.

So great! OMFG, really great!

And so on.

I think I almost started weeping with nostalgia when I stumbled on the red-light feature of SkySafari. Everything goes red, to preserve night vision! OMFG! So great! While the two Walk apps are “just” really cool educational apps, the red mode is what really sets SkySafari apart as an astronomer’s tool.

I could go on and on about these apps (and I’m sure there are others). But all I really wanted to say was:

Astronomy! iPads! Retina display! So great! It is not an exaggeration to say that I would want an iPad even if this was the only thing it did. Solar Walk alone, with its gobsmacking power to “fly” you around the solar system looking at stunning real photography of planets and weird moons, is truly a bit of a modern miracle, something that I have been craving to do since I was eight years old.

Bay Bridge Lightning Strike! (by phil_mcgrew)

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 08:15:03 -0700

Bay Bridge Lightning Strike! (by phil_mcgrew)

Thank you, scientists!

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 08:14:11 -0700

Thank you, scientists!:

“Just a friendly reminder of who’s doing all the damn work.”

Life is rough

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 16:32:26 -0700

I have the “curse” of making money doing very creative work that is almost like what I really want to do … so close that it’s easy to settle for it.

Tough one.

Plan B: Exercise and eat right forever

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:01:13 -0700

Last week I posted a sassy article about a weight loss victory, with the pure-gold title, “How I lost 25 lbs and why I couldn’t have done it without beer.” I really, truly meant it: I really did rely on beer as a key part of my weight loss plan in a totally real and not-actually-joking way.

BUT!

That was not the end of my journey. Oh no. Not even close. Here’s an important follow-up public service announcement.

As effective as my weird strategy was in the short term, I always understood that it was temporary, and that I could not live the rest of my life routinely replacing meals with beer. Shocker, I know. So I am now proceeding with Act II of the diet: a fussier, more technical and demanding life sentence to “exercise and eat right forever.” And I’ll actually be counting calories now, carefully, for quite a while — at least until eating the right amount has become second nature.

This is, obviously, the only way to keep the weight off and stay fit over the long haul.

As fun as the beer article was, it glossed over this hugely important long term obligation, which I always knew was coming, and which I always knew would be much more difficult. The trick — and my mad genius — is that the crucial long term discipline is SO MUCH EASIER TO PULL OFF when I’ve already mostly succeeded, with most of the weight I wanted to lose already gone, and clothing already reclaimed. After three years of thrashing around, I did the emotional math and figured this was the only way. My only way, anyhow.

No on-device data plan activation on the 4G iPad

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 12:20:00 -0700

The new iPad (3rd generation, with 4G cellular data) suffered a peculiar downgrade: it is no longer possible to sign up for a cellular data plan on the device. (In Canada at least.) Instead, one must go through a tortuous process on a carrier website, copying and triple-checking long numbers and so on. Jim Dalyrmple describes a fucked-up data plan sign-up with Rogers. And it took me — seriously — almost an hour with a blueshirt at Vancouver’s Pacific Centre Apple Store to get activated with Bell.

Myself, I felt more bemused than outraged: can this really be how every iPad is getting hooked up to the internets? How absurdly clunky!

Back in the good old days (of carrier settings updates)

The way this used to work was that the iPad would detect the presence of a new SIM card, and download a “carrier settings update” — a small file that basically just a tiny customized extension to iOS to allow account management for a specific carrier. Pretty painless. In particular, the update was the source of a “View Account” button in the cellular data section of the preferences.

Although I had gone through all of this two years ago when I got my original iPad, I really had no idea what was (or was not) going on when it failed to manifest on the new iPad. All I knew was that the SIM card that was part of my order was simply being ignored by the iPad. All I had was no cellular data, and no apparent way, and a dim recollection that I’d activated right on the original iPad. Stumped!

Apple cares

Because I’m old school and I kind of hate going to the Apple Store, I called AppleCare. My problem was met with total puzzlement, general agreement with me, and quick escalation to a specialist. Because they care.

I got on well with the “specialist,” and troubleshat the problem in a very collaborative, chatty way — a couple old-timer Mac users, speaking the same language, hammering on a curious little problem. Together we arrived at the same conclusion: clearly the iPad was failing to recognize the SIM card and install carrier settings, the necessary prerequisite for on-device activation. Time to consult an engineer!

The engineer came back with a definitive, unexplained answer that baffled us both: the new iPad doesn’t do on-device activation.

What the fuck?

Why would this feature go away, and why wouldn’t it be more common knowledge? Why would Apple send me a SIM card but not the slightest indication that it would be ignored by my new iPad? Why wouldn’t an AppleCare specialist know about this? How could this lack of on-device activation be both true and news-to-us? I’ve read multiple reviews of the iPad, and literally dozens of other articles about the technological minutiae of this device … but heard nothing about this?

Very strange. I told the specialist that I would, tentatively, accept the strange ruling of the engineer, but that I had a hunch that if I took the problem to an actual Apple store, they would find it quite amusing and tell me, “Of course you do on-device activation! We’d be drowning in manual activations if you couldn’t!”

Wouldn’t they?

Okay, so they are drowning in manual activations

I was informed of this soon after arrival. Sort of. The first blueshirt I talked to, the greeter guy, was in full agreement with me that on-device activation is a normal expectation and should be easy peasy, and I was all poised to call my AppleCare specialist back and be all like, “Ha! I knew it! I’ve wasted a fucktonne of time, but at least I’m right!”

But then the plot twisted out of my grip. Moments later another blueshirt was all like, “Nope, no dice — we’re doing all of them, or sending people away to sign up on their own.”

So engineers and blue shirts agree: you cannot do on-device data plan activation on the new iPad.

“Isn’t this kind of strange and unfortunate?” I asked the blueshirt. “Why would we lose on-device activation? It’s so simple! One little carrier settings file! Aren’t you encountering an awful lot of customers who expect to be able to do this?”

He agreed it was both strange and unfortunate. He had no idea why the feature disappeared. He said that not all that many people seemed to be puzzled by it. Only so many people get the 4G iPads in the first place, and only a few hit the limitation by trying to activate on-device on their own. It’s the first iPad for many people, so they have no expectation of on-device activation. For the upgraders, either they didn’t have a 3G iPad before or, if they did, they didn’t know enough to miss on-device activation with the upgrade.

You know data plan activation is hard when even a genius has trouble with it

But then it took, I shit you not, a full hour to get me activated with Bell Canada. It was downright tedious. Granted, it would have gone much faster if something unusual hadn’t gone wrong — but it sure seemed to be a fragile, fussy process, way more detailed than you’re typical online purchase. And this was with the help of someone who’d done many, many activations.

It all just seems so strange! All told, it took me a few hours worth of emails, calls, and trips to get 4G happening. Arg. If anyone had said “it just works!” to me at the end of that activation hour, they would have gotten punched.

But, now I have LTE cellular data on my iPad now, and it sure screams. I immediately went out and enjoyed some wifi-like zippyness in the park. Whee. The future.