A quote on explaining modern day reporting

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Could Glenn Greenwald be any more correct in his blog entry “Ending the war vs. supporting the troops“.

All in all the entry isn’t very interesting to me – the way however in which he explains how reporting apparently works today is a gem of a quality you hardly find on the net. I have to add that personally I feel this is definitely not only true for political reporters. The long term repercussions of bad reporting is an uninformed society. Not being informed is the last thing the society will notice before it’ll fall into (probably unnoticed) totalitarianism.

[...]One of the principal functions of political reporters ought to be to dissect and dispense with misleading political sloganeering, but instead, they fulfill the opposite function: they are the most enthusiastic and effective disseminators of these cliches.

Some of them do it consciously and knowingly, for ideological reasons, to curry favor with sources. But many of them are driven by a far more banal dynamic. They “analyze” political disputes this way because most of their impressions are shaped by Beltway political operatives whom they respect and admire, on whom they depend, and this is how they have things explained to them. [...]

Chanson d’automne

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Chanson d’automne by Paul Verlaine (Poèmes saturniens -1866). The poem is most well known for the use of it’s first strophe in a broadcast by Radio London in 1944 announcing the upcoming Operation Overlord.

Les sanglots longs
Des violons
De l’automne
Blessent mon cœur
D’une langueur
Monotone.

Tout suffocant
Et blême, quand
Sonne l’heure,
Je me souviens
Des jours anciens
Et je pleure ;

Et je m’en vais
Au vent mauvais
Qui m’emporte
Deçà, delà,
Pareil à la
Feuille morte.

Ubuntu-lu

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I just would like to tell you that a Luxembourgian Ubuntu-LOCO team is on it’s way. We’ve got a wiki entry, a mailing list (ubuntu-lu@lists.ubuntu.com) and an IRC Channel (#ubuntu-lu) on Freenode.

At the moment I hope that some Lilux (LiLux – GNU/Linux User Group Luxembourg) members will help me to get some people motivated to join, it will be quite a problem, to get a critical mass of members, otherwise.

Once we are a bunch of people we could try to do some Ubuntu Advocacy.

Computer-related fairs and exhibitions can certainly benefit from an Ubuntu presence! The LoCoComputerFairHowTo suggests ways to organize a booth, volunteer staffing, et al. Canonical can help with CDs, and in the future hope to have a conference pack with posters and related materials.

Another possibility for advocacy is to help ensure that Ubuntu gets coverage in your regional press. There are Linux magazines all over the world that highlight and review distributions in every issue, sometimes even distributing CDs. Help us get Ubuntu in the magazines you read! Those magazines also sometimes want to interview local people who are using the distribution – share your success stories.

UbuntuFriendlyHardwareSuppliers describes how you can organise contacting and listing PC suppliers in your area, asking if they supply Ubuntu friendly (or even preinstalled!) hardware.

Physics Cocktails

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Whilst reading through the last posts on one of my favorite blogs (Cocktail Party Physics) and helplessly spending time there instead of on a little project of mine I found these Physics Cocktails. While I haven’t tried a single on of them yet, it has been quite interesting (and funny ;-)) to read through them – just for the sake of it, you know?

And as normally there’s no capital punishment on sharing recipes, I’ve went ahead and copied them shamelessly over here for you to appreciate. I sure hope Jennifer doesn’t mind.

If there’s a brave, who has or plans to try one of the cocktails, I’d be glad to read his comment.

  • Listening to the Drums of Feynman
    The perfect nightcap after a long day struggling with QED equations.
    1 oz dark rum
    1/2 oz light rum
    1 oz Tia Maria
    2 oz light cream
    Crushed ice
    1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
    In a shaker half-filled with ice, combine the dark and light rum, Tia Maria, and cream. Shake well. Strain into an old fashioned glass almost filled with crushed ice. Dust with the nutmeg, and serve. Bongos optional.
  • Combustible Edison
    Electrify your friends with amazing pyrotechnics!
    2 oz brandy
    1 oz Campari
    1 oz fresh lemon juice
    Combine Campari and lemon juice in shaker filled with cracked ice. Shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Heat brandy in chafing dish, then ignite and pour into glass. Cocktail Go BOOM! Plus, Fire = Pretty!
  • Hiroshima Bomber
    Dr. Strangelove’s drink of choice.
    3/4 Triple sec
    1/4 oz Bailey’s Irish Cream
    2-3 drops Grenadine
    Fill shot glass 3/4 with Triple Sec. Layer Bailey’s on top. Drop Grenadine in center of shot; it should billow up like a mushroom cloud. Remember to “duck and cover.”
  • Mad Scientist
    Any mad scientist will tell you that flames make drinking more fun. What good is science if no one gets hurt?
    1 oz Midori melon liqueur
    1-1/2 oz sour mix
    1 splash soda water
    151 proof rum
    Mix melon liqueur, sour mix and soda water with ice in shaker. Shake and strain into martini glass. Top with rum and ignite. Try to take over the world.
  • Laser Beam
    Warning: may result in amplified stimulated emission.
    1 oz Southern Comfort
    1/2 oz Amaretto
    1/2 oz sloe gin
    1/2 oz vodka
    1/2 oz Triple sec
    7 oz orange juice
    Combine all liquor in a full glass of ice. Shake well. Garnish with orange and cherry. Serve to attractive target of choice.
  • Quantum Theory
    Guaranteed to collapse your wave function:
    3/4 oz Rum
    1/2 oz Strega
    1/4 oz Grand Marnier
    2 oz Pineapple juice
    Fill with Sweet and sour
    Pour rum, strega and Grand Marnier into a collins glass. Add pineapple and fill with sweet and sour. Sip until all the day’s super-positioned states disappear.
  • The Black Hole
    So called because after one of these, you have already passed the event horizon of inebriation.
    1 oz. Kahlua
    1 oz. vodka
    .5 oz. Cointreau or Triple Sec
    .5 oz. dark rum
    .5 oz. Amaretto
    Pour into an old-fashioned glass over (scant) ice. Stir gently. Watch time slow.