About Wyrd Smythe
The canonical fool on the hill watching the sunset and the rotation of the planet and thinking what he imagines are large thoughts.
The other face of Janus looks forward to the Christmases yet to come. Or words to that effect. The last post looked back at some highlights from 2023; this one looks forward to the hopes, plans, and guesses for 2024.
Hopes and plans are easy enough, but when it comes to guesses, I’ve never thought much of futurists. I don’t have much truck with “could” and “might” when it comes to the actual world. Science fiction is my favorite fiction, but futurists claim to be prescient, and I very much doubt it.
Regardless (and heedless), some hopes, plans, and wild-ass guesses, for 2024.
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1 Comment | tags: blog, blogger, blogging, Happy New Year, January, Janus | posted in Life
I thought this year’s Janus posts — one looking back, one looking forward — would be unusually late, but it turns out they’re only one day later than last year’s pair (assuming I post what I’ve just started writing today). Hosting my furry nephew Bentley over New Year’s accounts for the (thoroughly delightful!) delay this year and last.
As usual, this post looks back at the previous year, 2023, and tomorrow’s post (assuming I write it and post it) looks forward to what 2024 might hold in store (guesses and hopes).
And, of course, there are stats and charts.
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25 Comments | tags: blog, blogger, blogging, Happy New Year, January, Janus | posted in Life
Imagine my surprise at finding myself in:
Because I still remember wondering if 1984, when it finally arrived, would be anything like the book. (Not to mention how far off 2001 seemed back then.)
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10 Comments | tags: 2024, Happy New Year | posted in Life
nx vs xn vs nx (for n=42)
You’ve probably heard the phrase “exponential growth” in reference to something that grows very fast. A common example is bacteria in a petri dish. More relevant in daily life, perhaps, the spread of a highly communicable disease or a “viral” meme. These things all can have exponential growth.
You may also have heard the phrase “geometric growth” and wondered how — if at all — it differs from the exponential form. Recently I found myself curious enough about the difference to dig into it a little and find out once and for all.
This post records my simple exploration.
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3 Comments | tags: exponential function, geometric function, linear function | posted in Math, Sideband
“…as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us every one!“
[Created on Christmas Day while listening to Christmas Music and using only Christmas Electrons and Christmas Pixels.]
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6 Comments | tags: 12 Days of Christmas, Chillaxmas, Christmas, Christmas Day | posted in Life
Tonight, to celebrate the long-awaited Solstice, I’ll crack open the first of the three bottles of champagne I plan to drink before the end of the year. The Eves of Christmas and New Year’s account for the other two.
Of the three, the Solstice is the more important to me, the most looked forward to. The end of the calendar year is an arbitrary marker, and Christmas is a whole other tin of Lumbricina. Solstice, however, is a baggage-free party. (An ancient one at that.)
Speaking of parties, here is the last Friday Notes of 2023.
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13 Comments | tags: Ana Popović, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Lord of the Rings, Samantha Fish, Solstice, superheroes, Westworld (TV series), Winter Solstice | posted in Friday Notes
I’ve mentioned before that, after ten years of retired idleness, this year I’ve applied myself to getting some long-standing items off my TODO list. I’m a lazy beaver, not a busy one, but I’ve been less lazy than usual in 2023. (Perhaps, in part, because, on several counts, I can’t believe it’s actually 2023. I remember a time when 2001 seemed far off… in the future.)
One long-standing item off my “Gee, I Oughta…” list was doing one of those DNA assessment things I’ve seen advertised for years. I was adopted as an infant, so I’ve never known my genetic heritage.
Now, at long last, I do. And a bunch of other stuff besides.
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8 Comments | tags: ancestors, DNA, genetic code | posted in Life, Science
I’ve written many times here about my issues with TV and movie adaptations of existing stories. Short synopsis: I usually find them lacking. Especially the more recent attempts. Extra especially the live-action adaptations of animated stories. So many are just plain awful.
I don’t mean they fill me with awe, at least not the good kind. Sometimes I am a bit in awe that the people involved all thought it was a good thing. Emperor’s New Clothes, perhaps? No one wanted (or dared) to say anything?
Recently, I got to thinking about the worst adaptations I’ve seen…
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14 Comments | tags: adaptations, Agatha Christie, Cowboy Bebop, Preacher (TV series), Sandman, storytelling, The Andromeda Strain, Tony Hillerman | posted in Books, Movies, TV
Yesterday I enjoyed the first home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner I’ve had in many years. To be successfully single (which I like to think I am these days, having settled into a comfortable retirement) one must learn to let “the holidays” wash over the mind like the proverbial water off the proverbial duck’s back.
It helps to be a severe introvert. For us, holiday gatherings can be fraught, even vaguely threatening. Which makes a successful social outing like this metaphorical gravy. With actual gravy, in this case.
And the best part: Friday leftovers!
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46 Comments | tags: awe, chess move parser, miracles, moral philosophy, Thanksgiving, water | posted in Life
The implied image in my last post — of a sea creature returning to the surface — turned out to be more apt than intended. I descended again to finish my project and my burn-out. Spent a few days on the couch reading to recuperate (the library was nagging me about people waiting for books I borrowed and wasn’t reading).
So, let’s try this resurfacing thing again. I have more than books to catch up on. And two posts that should have come before this, but here we are on the penultimate Friday in November.
I have plans next weekend, so it’s Friday Notes now or never (in November).
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9 Comments | tags: 960 months, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Microsoft Windows, POV-Ray, Python, rational numbers, real numbers, Vulcans, words | posted in Friday Notes
Logos con carne 