Haibane.info

Month: August 2013

  • definitive proof that time travel is impossible

    If time travel is possible, then the present is the past for an infinite number of futures. (Assuming the time stream is changeable by travelers, and not fixed).

    In an infinite number of futures, there are a sub-infinity number of those futures in which a time traveler exists who finds today, the day you are reading this blog post, a fascinating and pivotal moment in history.

    Therefore, even if only a small fraction of those infinite future travelers obsessed with our today actually bother/have the means to travel to today, there are still an infinite number of them.

    Therefore, today there should have been an infinite number of time travelers appearing from an infinite number of different futures. Or, as Douglas Adams would have said, “whop”

    Of course the same argument holds for every moment of every day in all of recorded history, so basically we should be inundated with infinite numbers of time travelers arriving at every moment of time for all time.

    Since that is clearly not happening, time travel must be impossible.

    I’d love to see a What-If XKCD on the idea of an infinite number of time travelers arriving today, actually… would probably be a mass extinction, the Earth would suffer gravitational collapse, and we’d be in a black hole. I think.

  • my Netgear WNDR3700 (v1) router’s 5 Ghz network just went missing – bad antenna?

    As this is a geekblog, I might as well document my woes here in public. Here is the support ticket I filed with Netgear just now.

    Hello,

    I purchased a WNDR3700 on 1/11/2011 – serial number 21840B550A390. I have registered the router on my.netgear.com.

    this week the 5 Ghz wireless network stopped working entirely. I have updated to latest firmware, and also:

    – the 5 Ghz blue light is on
    – the settings on the configuration dashboard (192.168.1.1) indicate the 5Ghz network is active
    – SSID for 5 Ghz is set to “broadcast SSID name: on”
    – the 2.4 Ghz network works fine, computers connected can access internet
    – computers attached to the router via ethernet also can also access the internet normally

    however no device capable of 5Ghz is able to detect the 5Ghz SSID. the scanning software inSSIDer does not detect any 5Ghz network being broadcast either.

    Logically, maybe the antenna or antenna amplifier has burned out, I can think of no other explanation in software for why 5Ghz is missing – the router itself is convinced that 5Ghz is indeed working, but it isnt. That suggests a hardware problem to me.

    The router is only 2 1/2 years old and my previous Netgear routers are still going strong at my relatives’ homes after 5-6 years so this is very surprising. I am hoping Netgear support will not disappoint me.

    It looks like other users have reported similar issues with the 2.4 Ghz network also mysteriously vanishing, which is why I think my diagnosis of a bad antenna is correct. To be honest I was never enamoured of the speed of this router to begin with, as my initial tests showed.

    ASUS RT N66U router

    I am skeptical that Netgear will be willing to replace the unit but if they make some kind of gesture that will go a long way towards persuading me to buy a Netgear replacement. I’m not going to bother with a draft 11ac router, all I need is a solid 11abgn machine with some MIMO and I’ll be happy. Unless they make me a good deal, I am very tempted to ditch Netgear. For example, that ASUS RT-N66U “Dark Knight” got a nice review. External antennas, too!

  • Peter Capaldi is the Twelfth #DoctorWho – bravo for an older Doctor, here’s why

    Peter Capaldi is the Twelfth Doctor
    Peter Capaldi is the Twelfth Doctor

    Earlier I had advocated Jason Isaacs for the role of the 12th Doctor, but the news that veteran actor Peter Capaldi will take up the role has me satisfied. The reason is because given all the turmoil of the Doctor’s 10th and 11th incarnations, an older age is more appropriate for the part. As I argued earlier,

    It would also be nice to have a change of pace with an older Doctor for a change, one more weathered and reflecting the age and experiences, especially the multiple universe-saving, true-love losing (twice), companions-lost adventures of the past two youthful incarnations. As the Doctor once said, when he was very young, he acted very old, probably a reference to his first incarnation (William Hartnell as a grouchy grandpa). Isaacs would be a more honest reflection of the Doctor’s maturity, especially since more seems to have happened to him during his past two forms as during all the previous nine. And there’s also the appearance of his mysterious John Hurt incarnation, who may be 8.5. There’s plenty of reason for the Doctor to stop playacting at being a young man and let his wisdom and experience show.

    Even at their most serious, Tennant and Smith could never stop looking at least somewhat like the young goofballs they are. Physical age lends gravitas that acting skill can’t match, only simulate.

    Capaldi doesn’t have the same rugged physicality that Isaacs would have brought to the role, but he definitely will bring a different personality to the table, one more sarcastic and raw, if his other acting roles are any preview. I’m looking forward to the Capaldi era. The Smith era was deficient in plot and made up for it almost entirely on Smith’s manic shoulders. Hopefully the 12th regeneration will have both acting and plot. Given the change in age, I think that Moffat himself will be pushed out of his comfort zone and be forced to give his larger story arcs some more actual heft now. Otherwise, Capaldi will be just wasted in this role.