Time Management in a Heatwave

[tcpip]

The next few days are going to be very busy indeed. Tomorrow I am running a session of the second chapter for Masks of Nyarlathotep which will probably see the intrepid investigators make their way to London. The day after that I am hoping to finish an article on apartheid and Zionism for the Isocracy Network which promises not to satisfy any partisan positions on the subject. During these next two days at work I'm hoping to finish the first draft of a new course on relational databases (PostgreSQL), version control (Bazaar), and dependency management (Make). On Saturday I have the annual Linux Users of Victoria BBQ to prepare for and attend, followed by a wedding for one of caseopaya's workmates. On Sunday I'll be giving a presentation to the Melbourne Unitarian Church on Rational Thinking and Emotional Attachments, which will describe some the major limitations to people thinking rationally (e.g., tribalism and custom, argumentative reasoning, confirmation and selection bias, cognitive dissonance and compartmentalisation). After that I'll be participating in a game of GURPS Middle Earth. Somewhere amongst all that I am hoping to get the 22nd issue of RPG Review out, which is now few weeks late; hardly my worst result on that account.

Under normal circumstances this agenda would be possible if a little challenging. Under the current heatwave that has swept across from Perth to South-Eastern Australia it is going to be extremely difficult indeed. In all honesty I cannot recall a time in my almost half-century where it has been this hot for such an extended period of time.* At the same time of course, it has been bitterly cold in the North American winter and equally mild in Europe and Russia. Does this prove or disprove global warming? The sensible answer is, of course, not in itself. But when the ten hottest years on record (since 1880) are all from the last fifteen, and when the trajectory is a fairly steep climb in the last fifty, and where net natural forcings would actually indicate global cooling, then perhaps something is up. As these possibilities are considered I return to the notes I have for the address on Sunday; many people have partisan beliefs and tribal loyalties. Presenting people with facts and reasons on why they might be incorrect often causes them to become less likely to change as they have to admit initial error. Under such circumstances one is led to rather pessimistic conclusions of the ability of the human species to face up to the environmental and social changes necessary for the survival of the species. Still, we managed to avoid nuclear armageddon. Perhaps reason will prevail this time as well.

* Reminder of the 2009 heat wave. I am obviously still feeling the effects of the Perth trip.

Comments

[iris]

I'd rather be frozen than hot, yeesh. It's a lot easier for me to adapt to the cold, but that's likely because I grew up in a very cold location. And it's easier to put on and remove layers if need be. Hang in there!

[tcpip]

Last year the Bureau of Metereology said that the 2012-2013 summer was the hottest on record for Australia and the longest heatwave.

I dread to think what this one is going to be like.

[shadro]

I really need to learn more about databases. I know enough to get my way around for work and some neat little things, but there is just soooo much to it.

Also I don't think I have worked on a system that uses PostgreSQL yet. I know I've seen it around, but I haven't seen it on any of the clients I work on. I just recently got to work with a MySQL backed.

Also man I always want to comment, but it would mostly be me going. I know of this linux thing, but I haven't worked much with it. That is something I ought to fix to.

[tcpip]

Eh, see reply below. Either I stuffed up the reply or DW didn't thread the reply.

[tcpip]

Well, I do work in a fairly narrow specialist field; scientific and high performance computing? Yeah, Linux is the only game in town when it comes to that sort of thing, and Postgres is the lumbering elephant when it comes to databases that size, in a good way, in terms of ACID and SQL compliance.

If you want to dive into some database concerns, start with the theory, especially the debate between relational and graph databases (both are useful in their own way). I was very pleased to see a short article on the subject appear today on The Geek Stuff.

And for something completely different, amusing, and educational: MongoDB is web scale.

[ratfan.livejournal.com]

I was in a game of Masks of Nyarlathotep last year, but unfortunately there was schism among the players and GM, so some left and there weren't enough survivors to keep going. [Strangely appropriate, I know.]

I can think of a certain relative of mine who could use a presentation on rational thinking and limits thereof! Sounds like it would be very interesting. You could probably add heatwave as another factor: the brain shutting down as though we were trolls in the daylight, turning slowly to stone.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

That is strangely appropriate. Reminds me of a friend's Cthulhu game where one of the players was an archeologist, another a librarian, a third an anthropologist.. They did give passing consideration to playing themselves as characters.

Our Masks campaign has followed on from Horror on the Orient Express with a couple of character and device tie-ins. First two sessions resulted in one "temporary" insanity (several months) and almost one character killed by cultists. And that's just the first chapter!

I'll make sure that I post the talk online by Sunday evening. It has a particular Unitarian spin, but that's par for the course with the audience.

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

I think one of the reasons many people are willing to believe global warming is complete crap is because environmental issues in general have gained an image as a left/liberal/alternative cause, so those that see themselves as socially or politically conservative may be inclined to oppose anything that carries that flavour. For some people i know, the fact that 'greenies' are soft-in-the-head loonies who know nothing of the real world is such a fundamental part of their world view that to admit that any environmental issue is a real concern would be unthinkable, and any evidence to that effect must be rejected out of hand.

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

That said, i also have to recognise that i also buy into that environment = left/liberal/alternative image and not only let it influence my own confirmation bias, but actively reinforce and perpetuate that cliche by embodying it. :/

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

This fits quite nicely in the address I'm writing - rather than accept facts that would challenge a larger worldview, the facts are denied and spurious claims are generated concerning their veracity.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you follow mindhacks (they have an LJ under that name), but they've just been backed to write an article on how effective rational arguments are at changing peoples' minds.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that; I'll follow it up, both Mindhacks and Contributia.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

Mindhacks is worth having in your LJ feed, they do articles and "spike activity" which is an aggregator for psych news.