Economics 101 (almost)

Adam Smith?

Thomas Malthus?

Karl Marx?

Thorstein Veblen?

John Maynard Keynes?

Maybe you've heard of them, maybe you haven't. They are key figures in economics.

Robert Heilbroner has brought them, and others, to life in his excellent book, The Worldly Philosophers, pictured here in a 1980 edition (many years before the bailouts, but you'll be surprised how timely the book still is).

Heilbroner teaches economics through the lives of prominent economists. You'll read about Adam Smith's absentmindedness, Karl Marx's boils, Thorstein Veblen's love life, and the fortune of John Maynard Keynes. You'll find out what the Wealth of Nations and Communist Manifesto are all about.

This book does not replace a course in economics, but it will get you started with what's important-the key ideas!

Michael Patrick Jost (March 2011).

Liquid Drain Cleaner

No, this is not a "typical" topic but it is an important one.

My sink drain connects to my shower drain. Sometimes the sink backs up.

If I plunge the drain, I usually manage to push the blockage to the shower drain, resulting in two blocked drains.

I pondered the problem, and worked out that a "one two punch" using liquid drain cleaner does the job.

First, I pour an entire bottle of liquid drain cleaner down the sink. Sure, it may result in a blockage of the shower, but at least I know where the blockage is.

Then, I''ll clear the shower drain with liquid drain cleaner as well.

There are two kinds of liquid drain cleaner: acid and alkali. You want alkali unless you have something serious down the drain. This is still dangerous stuff, so observe the safety instructions.

Alkali drain cleaner works really well on hair, soap buildup, and organic "films" that grow in drains.

It is also important to follow use of the drain cleaner with LOTS OF HOT WATER to flush the (partially) dissolved clog all the way out (or it will be like when the sink clog has clogged the shower drain).

Three bottles did the job. Much cheaper than a plumber.

Modern Chess Strategy: "Chess for the Rest of Us" by Luděk Pachman

Yes, another book from Dover Publications.

This is the one to get if you already know how to play chess (this book assumes you know how the pieces move) but are still rated below 2000.

Ludek Pachman is not the "household name" Bobby Fischer is, but Pachman did beat him-twice!

This is an excellent book, worth playing through every now and then, it seems there's always something new.

Pachman does not hesitate to criticize his own moves, and he has an interesting discussion on chess playing computers, that may seem a little dated (and he can be certainly be forgiven for that) but is well worth reading and contemplating nonetheless!

RIP Claude Levi-Strauss

Claude Levi-Strauss, widely considered the father of modern anthropology for work that included theories about commonalities between tribal and industrial societies, died today, November 3, 2009. He was 100.

He was regarded as having reshaped the field of anthropology, introducing the concept of structuralism — concepts about common patterns of behavior and thought, especially myths, in a wide range of human societies. Defined as the search for the underlying patterns of thought in all forms of human activity, structuralism compared the formal relationships among elements in any given system.

During his six-decade career, Levi-Strauss authored literary and anthropological classics including "Tristes Tropiques" (1955), "The Savage Mind" (1963) and "The Raw and the Cooked" (1964).

Bye Bye Blackberry: Part 3

My transition to the T-Mobile Android G1 is complete.

This is a wonderful phone for business and personal use.

The Blackberry excels at integration with Microsoft Exchange, but that's a non-issue for me.

The G1 is better at just about everything else, and I have had no problem with reading the keyboard (I have the "bronze" model with the black-on-silver keys). T-Mobile's clear plastic case protects it quite well, and a screen protector lasts about 2 months.

The combination of translit and anysoft's soft keyboard make Cyrillic input as easy as it could be (and of course, having a soft keyboard makes the G1 a match for both the G2 and iPhone).

The integration with Google is very clever. Keeping contact's on Google's server means that if you lose your phone, you can get everything back as soon as you get a new phone. There's no need to worry about SIM card backups.

Patrick Jost

Another Snow Leopard Update

A few minor things, all resolved now: an incompatibility between Firefox and Flash, and new a new driver was needed for a Canon scanner.

Speaking of scanners, many of the software packages that come with them have "issues" with Mac OS X; a very good alternative is VueScan. In addition to running without problems, it has many features not found in the bundled packages.

All in all-Snow Leopard was more than worth the price!

Patrick Jost

Charles Sanders Peirce: Neglected American Genius

If you are interested in mathematics, logic, linguistics, or astronomy, then you should get to know the life and work of Charles Sanders Peirce.

These books, from Dover Publications, are not only a great place to start, but there is more than enough substance here to develop a fine appreciation for Peirce's accomplishments.

For example:

Peirce's work on semiotics ("theory of signs") is key to linguistics.

He worked as an astronomer at Harvard, measuring the shape of the Milky Way.

He realized that Boolean algebra could be reduced to two operations, NAND and NOR. In addition, he recognized that Boolean operations could be performed with switches, anticipating the digital computer.

There are many more.

Patrick Jost