Glass makes the news
March 10, 2010
Hey–just a fast note for Ernie lovers: Ernie’s mom is in the news.
Brenda Griffith, the powerhouse GlassValkyrie wonderwoman of Atlanta, is doing her best to convert the South to kilnforming (and beadmaking and glassblowing and, apparently, nude dates at the gloryhole, but that’s another story). She’s got a blog that’s fun to read; I’ve decided I want to be Brenda when I grow up.
And now FoxNews has reported on what she’s up to in a few segments. I’m not normally a fan of FoxAnything, but this is very cool. Give it a look.
I love it when glass (and a buddy) gets a headline. (And not a bad promo, either, Brenda. I notice you got a Bullseye t-shirt in there, your book, date night…way to go!)
Private parts
February 28, 2010
Interesting piece today in the New York Times on the differences in privacy laws between Europe and the US. It forecasts a significant show-down over privacy rights vs. free-flow of online information.
The article zeros in on Google/YouTube’s current Italian legal woes; the court has given prison sentences to Google execs for failing to protect a boy’s privacy. It’s caused waves of shocked incredulity in the online world but demonstrates what “localization” experts understand through painful experience: The global playing field only LOOKS level. In reality, global transactions often paint a thin veneer of universality over a whole bunch of cultural chasms.
Backstory on the case: Someone posted a video on YouTube, showing brutal harassment of an Italian boy with Down’s Syndrome. As is its policy, YouTube reviewed and removed the video in response to a formal complaint, but the Italian courts said that wasn’t enough; by permitting the video to be shown at all, YouTube had ripped this boy’s privacy to shreds. And, BTW, this wasn’t just a civil case; three Google executives received prison sentences (suspended). Google has said it plans to appeal.
In the US, we err on the side of disclosure–if you have a good reason, right-to-know trumps right-to-privacy. There’s a much greater emphasis on individual privacy in continental Europe, but it wasn’t really a problem for US businesses until the Web.
Up till now, the biggest online communities and information centers have been US-based, and their information policies are built on US First Amendment-style notions: Post now, pay later. Don’t blame the online provider for delivering the gun; it’s the membership that actually shot someone with it.
Members can post anything from libel to tutorials for committing illegal acts; as long as the provider can show he wasn’t selectively editing or actively soliciting such content, US courts (mostly) won’t hold him responsible. Many online forums simply couldn’t exist without that protection, and I’m not sure search engines would have gotten very far, either.
That just flat-out doesn’t jibe with old European notions of privacy (ironic, coming from a country that invented the term paparazzi). In their world, no gun=no problem. That’s a notion that sets my geek and journalistic teeth on edge, even as the private me applauds.
US or Europe, freedom of expression doesn’t mean freedom of responsibility for that expression, which is why YouTube did remove the video. The big question is not whether you protect privacy but when. Google and other online providers, despite facing a growing number of privacy lawsuits in Europe (and elsewhere), seem to be dismissing that question as Stone Age thinking.
Personally, I’m not so sure. Given the swiftness of viral information spread once something gets online, the US’ “remove and repair” policy seems more than a little old-fashioned.
I am (and always have been) a strident supporter of First Amendment rights; I’m equally passionate about the right to privacy. Content folk continually work to balance both sides, but I’m beginning to wonder if technology has shifted that balance.
I have no idea how you suppress–or even adequately define–damaging content that shouldn’t be allowed online. Technically, and morally, it’s a really hard problem. A few more decisions like the Italian courts’ and I suspect we will find out exactly how hard it is.
Dick Francis: Thanks, old friend
February 14, 2010
I will sorely miss Dick Francis.
Mr. Francis, who died this week at the age of 89, was a legendary British jockey turned sportswriter turned detective novelist. He wrote about the world he knew best, racetracks and horses and jockeys and trainers and grifters. I’ve been reading his books since I discovered them as a child.
They weren’t high-minded tomes on weighty subjects but simply detective novels. I’m not a huge fan of the genre, but Mr. Francis’ were different. His protagonists were usually modest, hardworking men with a penchant for understatement and a habit of getting the job done. Minimal gore, maximum thought and if the good guy wasn’t exactly a superhero he still seemed like the kind of guy you’d want living next door.
If you haven’t read one, you should.
Chessboxing
February 12, 2010
I am NOT making this up. Chessboxing is an up-and-coming new sport, alternately known as “the thinking person’s contact sport,” or ”the strategic violence game.” And there’s talk of making it an Olympic contest.
Whodathunkit?
Chessboxing is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: Rounds of chess alternated with rounds of, well, punching. Lest you have visions of nerd-bespectacled Bobby Fisher duking it out with a grimacing Kasparov, the guys who do it are more athletic, if not actually boxers.
It started in 2003 after Europeans read an account of chessboxing in a comic book (why am I not surprised?), and decided it sounded like fun. From what I’ve seen so far, the boxing definitely loses ground to the chess–you need to be a rated chess master to play, which does kinda cut into your gym time–but I suppose they’ll get better with time.
And there’s an interesting strategy here: If your opponent is getting too close to your queen, whack him in the head a few times. Maybe he’ll forget all about it.
The singing (well, playing) nurse
September 8, 2009
“I’m shakin’ in my boots and I’m breaking out in hives just thinking about it,” Sharon told me in an email.
Now, Sharon’s a neonatal nurse who for years has cared for life’s most vulnerable patients, premature and sick babies. For Sharon, a clear head and dealing in a matter-of-fact way with disaster is a way of life. She’s calmly managed resuscitations and codes, crisis after crisis, with a smile.
Shove her in front of a microphone and her boots start shaking. She says.
But she’s doing it anyway. Sharon’s also lead guitarist in NurseBand, a quartet of Neonatal Care Unit nurses who find music a great way to relax. This morning they’re singing a song they wrote about health insurance and the current political turmoil. They’re at Pioneer Square in downtown Portland, part of the Mad as Hell Doctors rally, and this is the song. Her friend Nurse Jo is doing the vocals; that’s Sharon’s guitar you hear as well as some of the harmonizing. Lisa wrote the lyrics based on a “Weepie” song, whatever that is, and Anita is keeping the beat.
Give it a listen (click the link below). Proud of you, sweetie; you guys sound great!
Gag me
September 3, 2009
And no, that’s not really a request.
Still browsing silly season news–Chris Brown of girlfriend-punching fame says his problem was that no one taught him how to love. Given the extent of his ex-lady’s injuries, somebody apparently did teach him how to hit. Can we please get over our fascination with people who shouldn’t be allowed out without supervision? [Read more]
And that’s the way it (mostly) is…
September 1, 2009
Journalists of old used to call this time of year “silly season,” when nothing much was going on, the newshole was a tad lean (unless you counted the inevitable “kids go back to school” story)…and so reporters dug down to the bottom of the barrel and started writing about UFO sightings or something.
Seems like there’s lots of news but–thankfully–it still nobly upholds the tradition of utter silliness.
Guzzler’s Gin in a glass
August 19, 2009
Bombay Sapphire’s opened up voting for the 2009 edition of its designer glass competition. If you vote for your favorite, you have a chance to win a copy of their new book detailing the history of the competition and its winners, which ought to be an interesting read.
Of course, I’d rather win the glass, but one can’t have everything, can one? 
Swimsuits have molecules. Go figure.
August 13, 2009
Ahhhh, there’s nothing I like better than bigots scrambling to prove they’re not.
Ahiida's "slim fit" burquini
Case in point: A lawsuit in the French courts right now over the use of “burquinis,” the ultra-modest sweatsuit-like garments that allow conservative Muslim women to swim in the pool without showing much (of anything). They’re banned in some French swimming pools, apparently because they’re not sanitary.
Ollie comes home at last
August 10, 2009
The newly renovated garage studio is starting to look like a weird kiln store; Oliver Wendell Kiln finally joined his brothers in the garage this afternoon (with a great deal of assistance from his chauffeurs, slideshow below). It’s taken nine months to get him here so I kinda feel like I gave birth to a giant space heater today.
Originally, I’d planned for the Intelligent Kiln Project for my next kiln, full of probes and thermocouples and multiple zones and controllers and wireless interfaces into my network. The goal was a kiln that eventually thought about what was going on inside it and modified its firing schedule accordingly. (In other words, I was having a geek moment)
For various and sundry reasons, most notably that the kilnbuilder who took my deposit forgot to build the kiln, it never really got off the ground. Fired the kilnbuilder, thought about tackling it myself…and then saw the Olympic raku kiln and got ideas. Instead of building from the ground up, I’d trick out a stock kiln.
Big advantage: Ollie was literally a tenth of the price of my custom kiln, which left me a LOT of room for playing. I ordered him, ran into all sorts of problems with early delivery and he wound up cooling his heels in a kiln hotel (i.e., storage facility) until I could remodel the garage and make room for him.
Ollie is a modified raku kiln from Olympic, with a 6.5 foot height (including gantry) and a firing interior about 30 inches in diameter and 28 inches high. He’s capable of full Cone 10 firing (porcelain) for Mom’s stuff, with their more precise glass controller for mine. I’ve had them make a number of modifications–the gantry’s a bit lower (since I’m a bit lower than many), they’ve left several openings for thermocouples, fans and venting, plus it’s a bit closer to the ground to make sure it would fit into the garage.
The bottom of the kiln is about eight inches deep; you unplug the controller and wind the top three-quarters of the kiln up the gantry, the way you would a bell kiln, to get inside. If you open the kiln to charge a mold with glass or manipulate something, the heat mostly stays in the bell. That’ll come in handy–I can lay the bottom element directly on the kiln floor instead of needing to rout it in, then top it with a raised shelf.
But there’s a bigger reason I wanted a bell-style kiln: I am not tall, and getting a top-loader kiln deep enough to handle large molds also means I climb a ladder and dive headfirst into the kiln, then manhandle 40 or 50 pounds of very fragile stuff into place. In the past it has led to slapstick moments and a lot of bruises. With Ollie, I’ll be able to raise the lid, slide the work in with minimal hoisting, and close up. He’ll also make it easier to flash-cool certain types of glass (i.e., the Gaffer golds, oranges and reds).
Raising the bell is reasonably easy but weighty–I may think about motorizing the lift at some point, particularly if I start needing to raise the lid during firing. The gantry shivers a bit when the lid’s raised, which bothers me. At some point I’ll see if I can’t rigidize that a bit more.
Ollie in his new home. Too bad he's sitting there backwards (with the controller facing the wall), but we couldn't tell which way was which when he was wrapped up...and now the movers are gone. Ah well.
I’ve got about 10 projects waiting on a bigger kiln, i.e., Ollie, but they’ll have to wait a bit longer. Ollie needs to be hard-wired into the house current before I can turn him on. I’d planned to bring in another 100-amp service and give Ollie his own dedicated line…but then I went to BeCON and heard Dan Clayman talking about his casting kiln configurations…and modularizing zones and circuits.
Right now Ollie has a gazillion side elements and nothing on the top and bottom; my first modification will be adding top and bottom elements and thermocouples in separate zones. The Olympic controller is a single-zone unit; I’m planning to swap it out for a pair of Digitry controllers–each can handle two zones. If I wall mount the controllers and give each its own 50-amp circuit, I can support four zones…three for Ollie, and one for Skooby, my Skutt bathtub kiln.
That would mean I could monitor temperature and modify firing programs for both kilns, and give me a lot more flexibility in managing firings. It would also mean I get the controller OFF the kiln, which I much prefer. And thereby hangs my dilemma: I only want to bring an electrician in once. If he sets up Ollie in his present configuration, he’ll have to completely rejigger the circuits when I swap over to the Digitrys. It would be cheaper (and probably more efficient) to simply go ahead and do this.
OTOH, I bought the bloody Olympic controller and it seems dumb not to use it. Also seems dumb to start pimping a brand new kiln before it’s even been fired once.
So the way things are going, Ollie is going to be the world’s biggest doorstop for awhile, while I make up my mind. Argh.
But at least my wandering boy is home.