Cool little article about intelligent and stupid networks and the end-to-end principle.
Entropy Gradient Reversals – The Rise of the Stupid Network
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Author Archives: specialk
Bear River, near Medocino
My wife and I have been going to Mendocino for about three years now. Every time we go we stay at the Stanford Inn.
One of the highlights of the trip is to go and take a walk on the beach at the mouth of the Bear River. This year was no different.
As is always the case, my dog has the most of the fun.
This time, I wanted to take some pictures I had never taken. But I couldn’t resist a couple of classics of the bridge looking out
and the bridge looking in
and of course a view of the sea
.
But here are my five favorite photos.
The number eight.
A tree in sand.
Rusted bridge.
Sandy dunes near sea.
Dead trees.
Eating with My Uncle at Canava Roussos
One of the coolest parts about going to Santorini is eating with my uncle Iannis Roussos at his Canava. 
Iannis, not only is a great story teller, but is also a lover of great food and wine.
Like very few people on the island he is a traditionalist and a lover of what Santorini was as much as what Santorini should be.
Every time I visit the place, I am treated to excellent wine, food and conversation, and this year was no exception.
It all started innocently enough with some crackers,
moved to fruit and coffee
and then we had three kinds of cheeses with my uncle.
And of course there was the wine.
The greatest part of the experience, however, was when he opened one of his barrels to let us taste some of his 30 year old Visanto.
Here my uncle is pouring some wine into a glass held by his daughter Liouba.
Where is Santorini?
One of my good friends saw my posts, and asked: So where is Santorini?
And of course, I was shocked and couldn’t respond, I mean who doesn’t know where it is…
But if you are from India, then the location of a small island in the Aegean that is part of Greece would be a mystery.
And if the island is popularly known as Santorini but legally known as Thira, it can be even more confusing.
So here we have a satellite image of Santorini…
Pretty Movie of Santorini
My wife has bought a mac, and coupled with her excellent photography she has discovered movie making.
This movie includes pictures from Oia, and my family’s winery, Canava Roussos.
The movie is set to Dimitris Mitropanos’ Fili Fili.
Taverna Katina in Amoudi, Oia
One of the most picturesque villages in Santorini is Oia.
And one of the most picturesque places in Oia is the port area also known as Amoudi.
And the best place to eat in Amoudi is Taverna Katina (Katina is shown sitting under her store sign).
While you sit waiting to be served you can enjoy the view.
Like all good Greek fish taverns, first you select your fish from the set of available fresh fish. Then eat some appetizers…
Followed by some fantastic fresh fish, in particular I recommend barbounia, the red-mullet.
Otherwise, anything fresh will do
Top to it all off we had a fantastic dessert
Best Fish Tavern in Santorini: O Filipas
Santorini is one of those spectacularly beautiful places in the world that must endure bad restaurants producing bad food in prime locations.
Occasionally, though there is a restaurant that meets and exceeds whatever obscenely high standards I may have.
Philipas was such a restaurant.
Serving the best tomatokeftes, salad, and tsatsiki anywhere the food was tasty, well prepared and made to order.
Overlooking the small port where fishermen place their boats
to survive the weather.
The owner, Philipas,
serves excellent Greek and Santorinian food.
Apparently much of the produce the restaurant serves is grown by the owner himself.
A fantastic, absolutely fantastic meal …
And I would have taken pictures of the food but I was too busy eating …
Eat whatever is on the menu. Enjoy the view. And remember my recommendation…
The Mayor, Jester of London
Watching the newly elected Mayor of London Boris Johnson, at the Olympics was amusing. It was obvious that no-one told him what to do, when to do it or how to do it. The optimist in me thinks this was just a normal guy thrust into extraordinary circumstances who was as befuddled as I would have been in front of 90+ thousand people and 1 billion people on TV. The cynic in me wants to observe that for a country that spent so much time choreographing everything, you would think they would take the time to walk the Mayor of London through the ceremony, you would think they would tell him to button up his suit, you would think they gave him a comb… But they didn’t. Was it all done to make the Mayor of London, and the City of London look ridiculous as compared to Beijing?
But I am an optimist so I’ll assume he was just thrust into extraordinary circumstances without his own handlers giving him sound advice.
So here’s what it looked like.
He arrived on stage looking haggard and bedraggled. His hair was poorly done. His suit looked ill-fitting. Couldn’t a tailor in London have given him a proper suit?
He walks onto a stage with over 1 billion people watching, with his suit open looking confused about what he should be doing.
He then stands on stage, and his first reaction is to put his hands in his pockets … only to see that everyone else has their hands by their side … so he pulls them out.
He than stands wondering what is going to happen next.
Then we watch the Mayor of Beijing majestically wave the flag and pass it on with two hands to the president of the IOC, who then in turn passes it to the Mayor of London, who has never waved a flag in his life. The flag is twisted around the flag-pole so we have this anxious moment where we wonder if The Mayor of London is going to drop the flag but thankfully we avoid that embarrassment. Finally the Mayor of London hands the flag over with one-hand relieved to be done with this ceremony…
For a country that understood pomp and style seeing the Mayor of London be so confused with such a simple ceremony was just plain funny.
Criticism of Project 119
First let me congratulate the Chinese people on throwing a fantastic party, and for winning 51 gold medals. Truly an outstanding performance!
Now, let me offer my condolences to every athlete who had aspirations to any of the 119 gold medals that the Chinese government has targeted. Now it’s obvious some of the gold’s are in high-profile events, but some are not so high profile. And I am really talking about the less high-profile sports. Where people with few resources who had talent could compete on the global stage.
It’s almost comically unfair. You have obscure sports, that by the nature of their obscurity, have marginal amounts of money, are labors of love, and don’t immediately attract the best athletes.
These sports exist on the fringes of the Olympics. Some people care about them passionately, but for the rest of us, they don’t exist. And in many ways, I believe those sports represent the best part of the Olympics.
Unfortunately, the Chinese government has decided that they want those medals. And the Chinese government will apply the full power of their resources to get as many of those medals as they can.
And you have to believe that although it will take time, they will win those medals. China has the people, the money and the determination to win those medals. And that the amateurs, who did this as a labor of love, who could aspire to a medal will be consigned to even more obscurity. Yes talent counts for something, but so does training, preparation and coaching.
So I feel sad, because on the fringes of the Olympics were sports where the true amateur spirit of the Olympics lived, free from the over-the-top professionalism and over-the-top-jingoism and now China’s Project 119 will make those sports just as professional and jingoistic as the rest of the Olympics…
Cynthia Potter Redux
How could I have missed this beautiful exchange:
Robinson, commenting about the imposing look of a Russian diver who had shaved his head: "I feel like I’ve seen this guy in a James Bond movie."
Potter: "I think I’ve seen him in some other kinds of movies."
Robinson, stunned into awkward silence: " … "
Potter, as replay of the Russian’s dive rolls: "Those other movies were about violence, not anything else."
Maybe this woman is a credit to her profession, and maybe diving fans love her, but oh-my-God, she needs some help with her color commentary ….