History – Page 16 – Spinor Info

Stone age flower

Feb 212012

Some thirty thousand years ago, homo sapiens was busy perfecting techniques to produce primitive stone tools. They may have already invented nets, the bow and arrow, and perhaps even ceramics, but they were still a long way away from inventing civilization.

Around the same time, an arctic squirrel in north-eastern Siberia took the fruit of a narrow-leafed campion, a small arctic flower, and hid it in its burrow, never to be touched again. The fruit froze and remained frozen for over three hundred centuries.

It is frozen no longer; rather, it is blooming, thanks to the efforts of a research team led by Svetlana Yashina and David Gilichinsky of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Against all odds, the genetic material in the seed appears to have survived. I say “appears” because such an extraordinary claim will be subject to extraordinary scrutiny, but what I have been reading suggests that this is indeed real: the age of the fruit is confirmed by radioactive dating.

Diamond Jubilee

Canada, History No Responses »

Feb 062012

The reign of Queen Elizabeth II began on February 6, 1952, following the death of King George VI.

As a loyalist royalist (or is that a royalist loyalist?) Canadian, I think this day is worth celebrating. Besides, I happen to like the old gal anyway. May she be around in good health for many more years to come.

Gentleman hacker

Communication, Computer Security, History No Responses »

Jan 152012

Meet the father of all hackers: Nevil Maskelyne.

In 1903, this gentleman gained notoriety by hacking into Guglielmo Marconi’s purportedly long-distance secure wireless telegraph, causing it to tap out unflattering messages about Marconi minutes before it was to be demonstrated at the Royal Institution. Maskelyne was a disgruntled competitor, his business suffocated by Marconi’s overly broad patents, but he justified his actions claiming that it was in the public interest to expose the flaws of Marconi’s system.

If his name sounds familiar, by the way, it’s perhaps because of his famous namesake, Nevil Maskelyne, the Astronomer Royal who a century and a half earlier was the cause of so much frustration to John Harrison, creator of the marine chronometer.

Happy 2012!

Cats, History, Politics, Society No Responses »

Dec 312011

For me, 2011 was not a particularly good year. In fact, business-wise it has been the worst in, literally, decades. We also lost our oldest cat, and indeed, cats all around us did not fare well: two strays, taken to the shelter on two separate occasions (once by us, once by neighbors of us) were killed by the Humane Society, another cat that belonged to a neighbor, one that we knew since 1997, succumbed to old age, as did the oldest cat of an American friend of mine just a few days ago. Yes, we’ve had happier years than 2011. But then again, we remain healthy, safe and secure, so we do count our blessings still.

What will 2012 bring? The collapse of the Euro? A major war in the Middle East, perhaps over the issue of the Strait of Hormuz? A Chinese economic meltdown, precipitating a worldwide crisis? More wars and suffering?

Or a strengthening of the Eurozone, with new institutions that will prevent similar crises in the future? Peaceful resolution of the issue with Iran, perhaps an end to the ayatollahs’ regime? Finally, full recovery from the economic woes of the past few years?

I remain cautiously hopeful.

Statistics

History, Politics 1 Response »

Dec 202011

Years ago, when Bush’s stupid war in Iraq began, I started putting some statistics up on my then blog site. Statistics like this one:

Number of biological bombs in Iraq, according to Colin Powell: 400,
Number of biological bombs found in Iraq: 0,
Amount of anthrax in Saddam Hussein’s possession, according to Colin Powell: 16,000 kg,
Amount of anthrax found in Iraq: 0 kg,

and so on. Now that the Iraqi war officially came to an end, CNN provided some interesting statistics of their own:

So my question is… was it worth it? Even if we ignore the fact that Iraq may yet become a satellite state of an increasingly powerful Iran and as such, a worse security threat than Saddam Hussein has ever been, his evil sons and chemical attacks on civilians notwithstanding?

Fame and notoriety

History, Politics No Responses »

Dec 192011

An e-mail from someone reminded me that whereas I posted a comment here in my blog on the death on Kim Jong Il, I neglected to comment on the death of Vaclav Havel. Goes to show that notoriety is often a more direct route to greater fame than doing the right thing.

Ding dong, the Kim is dead…

History, Politics 2 Responses »

Dec 182011

I know it’s bad form to rejoice upon the death of a human being, but I cannot say that I have any inclination to shed a tear over the death of North Korea’s totalitarian dictator, “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il.

11/11/11 11:11:11

Canada, History No Responses »

Nov 112011

Another Remembrance Day. Some people think it’s a militaristic holiday. It isn’t… it is not about the glory of war but about loss and sacrifice.

On a happier note, the world didn’t end today, nor did anything else calamitous happen just because of the once-in-a-century coincidence of twelve identical digits in the date and the time. (Then again, November 11 in the year 1111 must have been really special and still, the world survived.)

Canadian journalist

History, Media No Responses »

Jul 222011

Ali Velshi is a Canadian-American journalist working for CNN. So how could he not know something even I happened to know: that the Montreal Gazette is one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in the world, beating The New York Times, The Times of London, and Le Figaro?

Getting lost on Wikipedia

Computers, History, Internet 1 Response »

Jul 122011

I was trying to resolve a tricky problem today with the domain name system on one of my servers. One possibility was that a broken root server might have been responsible for the faulty behavior. So I began reading about broken root servers. Reading up on this topic, I happened upon an article published a few years ago discussing the pros and cons of internationalizing the Internet’s numbering authority. So I went to Wikipedia to read up about the current status of ICANN. This led me to another article about the proposed Interplanetary Internet, and about delay-tolerant networking in general. Soon I found myself reading a variety of articles on the history of computing, including the legendary decline of once famous companies like Data General and Digital… and eventually, after reading about early computer architectures and calculators, I was staring at an article discussing the early inventions of Hero of Alexandria, who indeed had a steam reaction engine and another invention that used expanding hot air to displace water which then opened church doors, two inventions that are often confused these days, leading many to believe that Hero’s engine was capable of useful work.

Unfortunately, I am not capable of useful work when I get lost like this on Wikipedia. My problem with DNS remains unsolved.

Yelena Bonner

History, Politics, Society No Responses »

Jun 212011

Yelena Bonner is dead. May she rest in peace.

They’re not burning books just yet but…

History, Hungary, Politics No Responses »

Mar 052011

Hungary’s government thinks destroying secret police archives from the Communist era is a good idea. I have to wonder… is the intent to protect those whose personal lives were monitored and recorded in minute detail by the almighty State? Or, more likely I think, are they planning this because they have something to hide? For what it’s worth, I signed an online petition protesting this destruction of historical documents.

“If East Germany could do it…”

History, Politics No Responses »

Oct 192010

Is this really the new Republican vision for America? A country surrounded by barbed wire, attack dogs, and border guards with machine guns? Apparently so, according to Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller. And they wonder why some conservative-leaning people, like myself, root for the Democrats these days.

Oh, and one more thing about East Germany… they could NOT do it. The Wall eventually failed, and the country itself went down the drain with it.

Germany

History, Politics No Responses »

Oct 042010

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of German reunificiation. Having grown up in a world in which the separate existences of West and East Germany were taken for granted, I am still digesting this fact, just as I am still digesting the collapse of the USSR, even as these events slowly migrate from the pages of geopolitics to the pages of history.

Grim anniversary

History No Responses »

Aug 092010

Sixty-five years ago Nagasaki was destroyed by nuclear flame. The beginning of the nuclear era, we sometimes say. But perhaps there is a more hopeful way of looking at it: whereas Hiroshima was the first time a nuclear weapon was exploded in anger, Nagasaki was the last. So perhaps Teller was right after all, and nuclear weapons remain the ultimate peacemaker. Here’s to hoping.

In the meantime, here’s a rather relevant clip from YouTube, showing all nuclear explosions to date on a map:

Surviving Auschwitz

History No Responses »

Jul 172010

Some think that this video is in bad taste:

I disagree. If it were done by anyone other than a Holocaust survivor, it would be in bad taste. But a Holocaust survivor has EVERY right to dance in Auschwitz and be happy with his family. This is his best (and only) revenge. (Sadly, lawyers seem to be having their revenge, too, as this video was apparently taken down previously by YouTube for alleged copyright violation. Yet another painful demonstration of just how badly broken our system of copyright really is.)

Dr. Strangelove in the Gulf

Environment, History, Physics 1 Response »

May 062010

Here’s an idea that only Dr. Strangelove, Edward Teller, or the Communist Party of the Soviet Union could come up with: nuke that oil leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. Apparently, it has been done before, and only one out of five attempts was unsuccessful. So how about that, folks? What’s a bit of radioactivity when you have an 80% success rate?

Love, Hate and Propaganda

History, Television No Responses »

Apr 112010

I’m watching a six-part CBC documentary miniseries titled Love, Hate and Propaganda, which looks, from a perspective of 70 years, at the role of propaganda during WW2. While the series is enjoyable (though shallow, like most historical documentaries are), I am coming to the conclusion that after 70 years, propaganda is still alive and well.

Take these sentences, for instance, explaining the beginning of The Blitz:

In the beginning, Germans attack military and industrial installations, but as time goes by, bombs get closer and closer to the big cities.

September 7th. They hit London. The Blitz begins.

So how does it compare to a more neutral, factual description of the same from Wikipedia? Let’s see:

In late August 1940 […] the Luftwaffe attacked industrial targets in Birmingham and Liverpool. This was part of an increase in night bombing brought about by the high casualty rates inflicted on German bombers in daylight.

During a raid on Thames Haven, on 24 August, some German aircraft […] strayed over London and dropped bombs in the east and northeast parts of the city, Bethnal Green, Hackney, Islington, Tottenham and Finchley. This prompted the British to mount a retaliatory raid on Berlin the next night with bombs falling in Kreuzberg and Wedding, causing 10 deaths. Hitler was said to be furious, and on 5 September, at the urging of the Luftwaffe high command, he issued a directive “for disruptive attacks on the population and air defences of major British cities, including London, by day and night”. The Luftwaffe began day and night attacks on British cities, concentrating on London. This relieved the pressure on the RAF’s airfields.

In the CBC’s version of events, there is no doubt that the indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets was the invention of the evil Nazi state. Wikipedia’s facts are more nuanced: it appears that the first intentional bombing of civilian targets may have actually been conducted by the RAF! This remains true regardless of the evil nature of the Nazi empire or the fact that it was them, not Britain, who started the most devastating war in history.

So, it seems, Love, Hate and Propaganda is guilty of the very thing that it purports to expose: by skewing the facts, it becomes a work of propaganda.

End of an Era

History No Responses »

Apr 092010

The CBC titled its broadcast “End of an Era”; its live coverage of the special ceremony remembering Vimy Ridge, on account of the fact that Canada’s last WWI veteran died just a short while ago.

My thought? If only all countries remembered war the way Canada does: not the glory, but the loss and the sacrifice. Perhaps the world would be a better place.

25 years of glasnost and perestroika

History, Politics No Responses »

Mar 112010

25 years ago today, Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. I don’t think I noticed… indeed, other than new slogans like “glasnost” and “perestroika”, which were mostly just words, the system seemed just as crumbling as before. Perhaps even crumbling a bit more… Gorbachev’s rise to power occurred, after all, a mere two months after the Comecon’s worst energy crisis, marked by shortages in natural gas and a massive collapse of the electrical grid. And then, a year later, it was Chernobyl’s turn. Did anyone need more proof that Communism was, even under the best of circumstances, a social system incapable of providing a sustainable, safe, secure, prosperous life to its citizens?

Nonetheless, I had no reason to suspect that Communism would vanish anytime soon. Indeed, I don’t think there was anyone in Hungary in 1986 who would not have considered it a safe bet that the Soviet empire, along with its one-party vassal states in Eastern Europe, would be around for at least another 25 years. These views played a major role in my decision to leave Hungary in 1986. A decision I never regretted, but still… who would have thought that just three short years later, the Berlin Wall would come down and not long after that, the flag of the USSR would no longer fly over the Kremlin?

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