April showers may bring May flowers, but…

…it’s still a rough month for me, in terms of family events: my mom’s birthday is this month, as is Mothers’ Day, and my dad’s birthday is this month, too. And they’re all well within two weeks of each other.

And then, one month later, it’s Fathers’ Day.

The State-of-Nature Teachings of Hobbes and Locke

This is a paper I wrote a few years ago in Political Science 202 (Political Philosophy, Part II) at Brigham Young University, which I recently rediscovered.

So You Want to Write a Fugue?

War With Iran?

Today we learn that a former FBI agent has now gone missing in Iran. And now, a few questions naturally arise, such as:

1. What was this man doing there? The State Department claims that he was on private business in Iran, but was he really?
2. DId the Iranians capture him, too?
3. What are the Iranians up to?
4. What is the American government up to?
5. Two carrier battle groups were recently deployed to the Persian Gulf, and there have already been skirmishes between US/Coalition forces and Iranian assets in Iraq. Additionally, there are rumors that there are US intelligence operatives already in Iran, laying the groundwork for military operations, and that the US intends to strike next month on Good Friday. Add to that the fact of reports that President Ahmadinejad of Iran hopes to usher in the coming of the Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam. Could we be heading for an all-out war with Iran?
6. If we’re heading for war, what will the streets of Paris, London, Berlin and Rome look like?
7. If war erupts, what will the Russians and Chinese—both on cordial terms with Iran—do?

Gore Is Still a Hypocrite

Last week, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research discovered that Al Gore’s estate in Tennessee consumed large amounts of energy in 2006—more than 20 times the national household average of that year. Last August, Gore used 22,619 kW h of electricity—more than twice the annual national average.

Gore responded by saying that his family uses “green power” by signing up through Green Power Switch and using energy-efficient technologies in their home, and that his family purchases “carbon offsets” to bring their “carbon footprint” very near to zero.

Even though the Gore family does all of this, they are still hypocrites. To understand why, we must first understand the concept of the carbon offset.

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandates certain pollution limits on producers, like factories, power plants, and so forth. Producers whose pollution exceeds these limits are fined and expected to comply with the limits. (The economic impact of that policy will not be discussed here; neither shall we here address the complete arbitrariness of these limits.) But some producers are able to keep their pollution considerably below the levels mandated by the EPA. Others who, for various reasons, cannot get their pollution levels beneath the EPA’s limits, can buy carbon offsets or carbon credits from these over-complying producers. These credits are essentially permission slips that allow the possessor to produce a certain amount of pollution over the mandated limits, on the assumption that somewhere else there is a producer that is coming in below the mandated pollution limit, so that the total pollution produced by the possessor of the credit and the seller of the credit is less than or equal to the sum of their allowed limits. Indeed, this is an elegant market-based distribution of resources.

So, Al Gore’s family purchases a number of carbon credits that “allow” his household to produce (directly or indirectly) pollution that is offset by some other entity that has kept its pollution levels some amount below the mandated limits.

Now we need to take a detour of sorts and discuss an apparently unrelated concept in philosophy, called the categorical imperative, and then we will return to environmental issues. The categorical imperative is the fundamental principle of the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant, and it is best summed up as follows:

Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.

Or, in other words, the categorical imperative requires that any action one takes should be generalizable and universalizable to everyone.

There are many theories of ethics; why should we pay attention to the categorical imperative? Because Al Gore’s insistence, based on his notions of global warming and environmentalism in general, require that every human being take certain ameliorative actions. These actions invariably reduce to the reduction of consumption. Therefore, Gore’s actions with respect to environmental issues should be universalizable.

But are they? The purchase of carbon credits is essentially the purchase of the permission to pollute above the mandatory limits. But this requires that there be carbon credits to purchase in the first place, and that requires that there are at least some producers who come in below their mandated limits, so that others can remain above them. Gore’s behavior relies on the “good graces,” so to speak, of certain producers so that he can maintain his high consumption. But if everyone were to try to buy carbon credits from everyone else, there could be no carbon credits to purchase. Therefore, Gore’s actions cannot be universalized.

Who, then, is allowed to purchase carbon offsets, and who may not? Invariably, the wealthy will largely be able to do so, and the middle and lower classes will not. If this does not smack of elitism on Gore’s part, I don’t know what would. Gore claims to have “taken initiative in creating the Internet”; why won’t he take initiative to lead the way with “bold leadership” and renounce a lifestyle that Thorstein Veblen would have had a field day with? Why doesn’t he sell his Tennessee estate and move into a hovel made of rubber tires and glass bottles, powered entirely by solar energy? Why won’t he sell his cars and use electric ones, or bicycles? Why doesn’t he give up the home theater, the two ovens, and the other energy drains that his estate surely has? Could it be that he is a fraud and a demagogue?

Back in the 2000 election cycle, I once heard Gore on 20/20, I believe, or one of the news shows, describing his life and ambitions. He once attended Harvard Divinity School, but found it to be unfulfilling and not for him. Eventually, after working in journalism, he turned to politics and found his true calling. After the 2000 election, it would appear that the political avenue toward changing the world has failed. Now, it seems, he has turned to global climate change as a means to “make a difference,” by which is usually meant “to influence people.” But suppose I don’t want to be influenced?

The Unethical but (Mostly) Legal Retail Shopping Tactics of Devil Consumers

This article Link to The Unethical but (Mostly) Legal Retail Shopping Tactics of Devil Consumers refers to so-called “devil customers,” which are customers that do the following at retail stores:

• Buying a product, taking advantage of the product rebate, then returning the product for a refund.

• Buying clothing or another item, wearing it (or using it) once, then returning it (the classic example is the evening gown that’s worn with tags on for a night, then returned).

• Buying an item and returning it with the intent of buying it at the reduced “open-box” price

• Buying clothing or another item with the intent of returning it later and re-buying it at a markdown price.

• Buying a product at a discount, such as from the store’s selection of “loss leaders,” (low-priced products stores lose money on that are designed to attract customers) then reselling it on eBay for a premium price.

• Finding rock-bottom prices on Web sites, then challenging stores to pay up on their lowest price guarantees.

• Taking up an employee’s time to ask questions about a significant purchase with the intent to buy it elsewhere.

Before I read this article, I had never heard of “devil customers.” Let’s examine each of the above practices:

1. Buying a product, taking advantage of the product rebate, then returning the product for a refund.

   This is a gray area, but surely it is reasonable to expect the store to have a policy about this.

2. Buying clothing or another item, wearing it (or using it) once, then returning it (the classic example is the evening gown that’s worn with tags on for a night, then returned).

   This is unquestionably bad. As I understand it, only unused clothing items may be returned.

3. Buying an item and returning it with the intent of buying it at the reduced “open-box” price.

   This is somewhat gray, but probably bad. A policy could be in place to prevent or reduce it, such as, “once you buy it and return it, you cannot buy it again.” Of course, that would require maintaining rather detailed purchase records, and that could get dicey.

4. Buying clothing or another item with the intent of returning it later and re-buying it at a markdown price.

   The proposed policy above should handle this.

5. Buying a product at a discount, such as from the store’s selection of “loss leaders,” (low-priced products stores lose money on that are designed to attract customers) then reselling it on eBay for a premium price.

   Sorry, but I see nothing wrong with this. You see, when someone buys an item, it is theirs to do with as they see fit—and if they wish to resell it on eBay, or give it away to someone, then that’s their prerogative. If the product in question can be sold on eBay at a premium, then perhaps it’s not such a “loss leader” after all.

6. Finding rock-bottom prices on Web sites, then challenging stores to pay up on their lowest price guarantees.

   This, too, is perfectly fine. If a store claims that it will beat any low price, then it had better honor that claim. If it has trouble competing with online stores, then it could add an exception for online stores.

7. Taking up an employee’s time to ask questions about a significant purchase with the intent to buy it elsewhere.

   This may be annoying, but the employee’s job is to serve the customer, whether the customer decides to buy their product at that time or not. Of course, the customer ought not lead the employee into believing that they are going to buy the item there, but the employee’s job remains the employee’s job.

Nos. 5 and 6, and possibly 3 and 4, are nothing more than consequences of the store’s stupidity. Caveat vendor.

Technorati tags: consumers, business, laissez-faire, free market

Official: Agency testing machine, but draft not imminent – CNN.com

Link to Official: Agency testing machine, but draft not imminent – CNN.com

The draft is evil, immoral and illegal. Consider Section 1 of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution:

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

The draft is, ipso facto, involuntary servitude.

But even if there were no Thirteenth Amendment, it would still be immoral, and it would fly, even as it does now, directly in the face of American ideals of the free society. “[A]ll men are created equal,” states the Declaration of Independence, “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” When a person is impressed into service, whether it be slavery, military conscription, or any other such thing, that person’s life and liberty are severely restricted. So also is that individual’s capacity to pursue happiness. Thus, such an institution, when it is not done as a punishment for crime, is inherently un-American and contrary to the very principles our free society is founded on.

“But how will we fight wars?” some may ask. I reply: If you cannot get your people to fight your war, then your war is not worth fighting.

Technorati tags: freedom, draft, war, liberty, libertarianism, free society

My Dream MP3 Player

So far as I know, My Dream MP3 Player does not yet exist. My Dream MP3 Player must play the following formats:

• MPEG audio (MP3)
• AAC/MP4
• WMA
• FLAC
• OGG

The lossless formats (i.e., not FLAC) should be playable at a range between 20 kb/s to 320 kb/s, and VBR should be supported as well as CBR. And bonus points to the OEM who provides WMA Lossless support as well. ID3 tag support is mandatory, and ReplayGain support would be a welcome extra.

So far, the TrekStor Vibez comes closest to my dream. But it comes short in these ways:

• No AAC/MP4 support
• Incomplete VBR support (MP3, OGG and FLAC only; not WMA)
• No WMA Lossless support
• No ReplayGain support

(I’ll admit that those last two features are not must-haves.) Perhaps the second-generation Vibez will have all of these features.

Technorati tags: digital, music, audio, mp3, player, trekstor vibez, vibez, trekstor, aac, wma, flac, ogg

Adobe needs more market share, it seems

How absurd is this: Adobe may sue Microsoft over “PDF-killer”. Apparently the PDF is not ubiquitous enough. And Apple’s decision to include a native PDF driver in OS X wasn’t unfair bundling, but Microsoft’s decision to include XPS in Windows is.

We all know the PDF is here to stay for quite a long time. And if XPS is really open source, who cares? Why doesn’t Adobe partner up with Microsoft and use XPS to their own advantage, like they did with Microsoft in the OpenType font specification—a font format way better than either Adobe’s Postscript Type 1 or Microsoft’s and Apple’s TrueType?

Star Trek: The Original Series to Get CGI Enhancements

The thought of doing this occurred to me some time ago, but it’s official: CBS Paramount has announced that newly remastered episodes of The Original Series in HD, with digital upgrades, will begin broadcasting on September 16 (just two days away from September 18, the day TOS premiered on NBC in 1966). I love The Original Series. I grew up with it on TV in reruns in the 80s—Channel 12 out of Portland, Oregon. Mmm. Yes, those were the days. I can’t wait to see what they do with these episodes! The announcement at startrek.com says:

The most noticeable change will be redoing many of the special effects, created with 1960s technology, with 21st century computer-generated imagery (CGI). Upgrades include:

• Space ship exteriors – The Enterprise, as well as other starships, will be replaced with state of the art CGI-created ships. The new computer-generated Enterprise is based on the exact measurements of the original model, which now rests in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
• Show opening – The Enterprise and planets seen in the main title sequence will be redone, giving them depth and dimension for the first time.
• Galaxy shots – All the graphics of the galaxy, so frequently seen through the viewscreen on the Enterprise’s bridge, will be redone.
• Exteriors – The battle scenes, planets and ships from other cultures (notably the Romulan Bird of Prey and Klingon Battle Cruisers) will be updated.
• Background scenes – Some of the iconic, yet flat, matte paintings used as backdrops for the strange, new worlds explored by the Enterprise crew will get a CGI face-lift, adding atmosphere and lighting.

This has the potential to be really cool, and it could solve some problems and infelicities in the series. For example:

1. The USS Constellation in “The Doomsday Machine.” The forty-year problem of its unacceptably low registry number (NCC-1017) can finally be fixed on the CG model. Further, the CG model can look more like the Enterprise (instead of the cheap, inaccurate, 1967-vintage AMT/Ertl model originally used).
2. The multiplicity of Constitution-class starships. In the first-season episode, “Tomorrow Is Yesterday,” we are told by Captain Kirk that there are only twelve starships like the Enterprise in Starfleet. Yet in every episode that we see another Federation starship, it’s a Constitution-class vessel like the Enterprise. Now, the Federation is supposed to be around two thousand light years in diameter, and yet there are only twelve Constitution-class starships to cover it. (Assuming that the Federation is a sphere of radius 1,000 light-years, that would make an average of one Constitution-class starship per 350,000,000 cubic light-years!) Yet we only ever see Constitution-class vessels (in “The Doomsday Machine,” “The Ultimate Computer,” “The Omega Glory,” and in “The Tholian Web”). So, why not make one or two of the four starships seen in “The Ultimate Computer” into something else besides Constitution-class vessels? How about some TOS-era version of the Miranda class, or some of Franz Joseph Schnaubelt’s designs, or the excellent work of Masao Okazaki (especially the Early Federation Wing)? For that matter, there is no special reason for the Exeter in “The Omega Glory” to be Constitution-class. Maybe it could be something else.
3. Unseen starships. In “Charlie X,” we never saw the USS Antares. Maybe they could show it alongside the Enterprise at the beginning of the episode, like Captain Kirk’s log entry indicates. Also, how about showing some Starfleet ships in orbit over Starbase 11, perhaps in drydock facilities, in “The Menagerie” or “Court-Martial?” Or how about the Astral Queen in orbit above Planet Q in “The Conscience of the King?” How about some other ships hanging around Deep Space K-7 in “The Trouble With Tribbles?”
4. Unfortunate use of the SS Botany Bay miniature in “The Ultimate Computer.” It’s hard to believe that the ore freighter SS Woden would look identical to the two hundred–year-old SS Botany Bay. Let’s make a new CGI model.
5. The vague or silly appearance of certain ships. In “Mudd’s Women,” Harry Mudd had a J-class cargo ship which looked like—well, a breast implant. In Star Trek: Enterprise, the J-class cargo ship has a more defined and realistic appearance. Also, the Klingon scout ship in “Friday’s Child” looks like a finned Flash Gordon craft. And then, in “The Way to Eden,” the SS Aurora is an obvious kitbash of the Tholian cruiser with the support pylons of the Klingon D7 battlecruiser and a pair of Enterprise-style warp nacelles. All of these could be corrected with CG.
6. Uniform insignias in “Court-Martial” (and perhaps “The Tholian Web”). In “Court-Martial,” in the bar scene where Captain Kirk meets some old friends from the Academy, they all wear the Enterprise’s arrowhead emblem on their uniforms. But in other episodes (and in other parts of this episode), it is established that each vessel has its own emblem, as well as starbase personnel. With CGI, we can give these people different emblems. Also, the dead crewmembers of the USS Defiant in “The Tholian Web” all wore Enterprise emblems, although it’s never clearly visible on any of them. Those could be corrected, too.

More things could be done to enhance continuity and add flavor to the Star Trek universe of TOS, I’m sure. I would love to have this set of episodes on DVD or HD-DVD or BlueRay—but I’m glad I have the original, unaltered series on DVD, too.

Update: Here’s a proof-of-concept.

tags: star trek, scifi, science fiction, cgi, television, tv, tos, original series