SanPedroGrouch's comments

SanPedroGrouch | 16 years ago | on: Why Peak Oil Will Never Lead To $500/bbl Crude Oil

government intervention is of course a euphemism for rationing. Rationing creates shortages which in turn causes steeper rationing, with the result being the economy slows to whatever pace is consistent with the limited supply of energy. For the USA that looks to be a lonnnng way down from here.

SanPedroGrouch | 16 years ago | on: Ask HN: Any good books on graphing/charting/visualization?

I second Python+Matplotlib and toss in another notion: animation. With Matplotlib you can generate a plot, save it as a .png file, step to the next plot, save it, etc. all unattended. Then combine your plots into a movie file using one of many programs designed to do just that and presto! your own movie.

I've done this on occasion and with success. When it fits, animation works wonders. And when it doesn't, look for "duck" in Tufte.

SanPedroGrouch | 16 years ago | on: We are like prisoners... We do not have a life, only work.

As an American I need to ask what is a council flat? Is that like what we might call "public housing"? (Cheap, often low-quality)

And how did you like life in Bangkok?

SanPedroGrouch | 16 years ago | on: Every Black Hole Contains Another Universe?

This is something Carl Sagan said matter-of-factly near the start of his series COSMOS. "We live inside a Black Hole."