I always thought the problem was calibration, and more specifically that the company responsible for building and selling these was also responsible for ongoing testing, calibration and certification -- a clear conflict of interest. After that series of articles in the NYTimes a couple years ago about people getting fried to death in misconfigured x-ray machines, fear of ending up like Spock (before re-genesis of course, but I digress) was my main reason for taking the pat-down every time.
Secondary reason was European airports banning them, but that has since been reversed. UK doesn't let you opt for pat-downs, not sure about the rest of Europe.
The whole ionizing radiation deal gives me the creeps. Let's hope they do all switch over to millimeter wave. Right? Or is there a fatal flaw with those too?
. tried fluorescents don't like them always find they have an artificial quality here's my theory . the light from incandescent bulbs (even frosted ones) emanates from the relatively very small surface area of the filament and casts quite sharp shadows especially noticeable closer to the bulb . fluorescents light up equally over the entire surface of the glass and cast diffuse shadows again, especially noticeable closer to the bulb . my theory is incandescents more closely replicate the way the sun casts light and shadow and thus seems more natural (halogens too, but i usually have to dim them) . i hope the bulb makers have success building more efficient incandescents i will buy them .
.
got so fed up with optical mice (decent ones too, not just cheapos) skipping on my totally generic ikea desk i plugged in a brand new old-stock totally generic dell mouse-with-ball and WOW! no skipping, noticeably perky responsiveness, and so cheap that when one gets gummed up and doesn't fix from a quick cleaning (after like a year) i can crack open a fresh one for 3 bucks - no more taping a sheet of non-shiny paper to the desk for the optical mouse
wireless mice are even worse, with the annoying "battery low" popups and skips from the weak signal - good riddance
yes, tried all the big and small trackballs, which are fine for normal stuff but excruciating (for me) in pixel-fine graphics (illustrator, photoshop, etc.)
.
.
set the case for all lower case - 4 and 7 are dots, 6 and 9 are dashes - space key is good - SOS would be keyed as 474696474, and would text as gpgmwmgpg - the method has a specific advantage visually whereby, with experience, the round part of the g and p look like dots, and the vertical lines of the m and w look like dashes - you have to oscillate between 6/9 and 4/7 to avoid "next letter lag"
i hereby release this "method of entering morse code via phone keypad as described in the paragraph above" under a creative commons license, 2005 Slashdot User KaiBeezy, some rights reserved: attribution, noncommercial, share alike
.
here was my uncommonly creative post on Engadget from the day:
------------------- Posted May 6, 2005, 3:21 PM ET by KaiBeezy . if you learned morse code, why not just pick a couple of quickly enterable (is that a word?), easily distinguishable characters and let loose the dit dah fury?
here's how i would do it - set the case for all lower case - 4 and 7 are dots, 6 and 9 are dashes - space key is good - so SOS would be keyed as 474696474, and would text as pgpmwmgpg - this works quite nicely visually, where the round part of the p and g would start to look like dots, and the vertical lines of the m and w start to look like dashes - i bet a real morse coder could get the hang of it and whip things out on a phone pad just as fast as on a morse key
hm, maybe i should have patented that! i hereby release this "method of entering morse code via T9 pad as described in the paragraph above" under a creative commons license, 2005 qwepoi biotronics, some rights reserved: attribution, noncommercial, share alike . -------------------
Having been a leasing and zoning consultant on cell towers a while ago, here are some factoids:
- The fake tree approach is made difficult by the fact that the towers need to be extremely stiff. The antennas are tuned to radiate very precise flat lobes with minimal back/up/down-scatter. Even a bit of flex ruins the pattern. That's why the flagpoles and trees look so ungainly and out-of-proportion.
- Camouflage - fake trees, fake flagpoles, fake chimneys, etc. - are ungodly expensive. You can make a fake chimney, but it has to be out of fiberglass sculpted to match the building. There can be no internal metal frame which would block the signal, and even sharp interior corners of the fiberglass panels were rejected by the RF engineers. When you try to blend something into a building facade, differential weathering of exposed surfaces makes the antenna show up anyway, and you have to keep sending out painters to reapply the "make-up". $$$ The trees have to be made out of something that will stand up to weather and look OK for many years. Pine needles (fake trees are almost always "pines") in front of the antennas have to be designed not to scatter the signal. Who wants to climb the pole and replace branches? $$$
- Overly tall poles are rare. The higher the pole, the more other cells that pole can "see", the more interference. You only see really tall poles or towers in very flat areas where the RF engineers can spread things way out. In even modest topography, the coverage area per pole is surprisingly small. This is exacerbated, as pointed out in the article, by the rising demand for "in-building coverage" which requires much stronger signals.
- The best solution I was never able to implement was one which strung a series of small antennas along existing power/phone pole lines. Planners in the rich suburbs were much more amenable to this kind of thing, and the tech exists somewhat, but negotiating an agreement among the several utility companies who own the poles and right-of-ways jointly proved infuriating to the the (unbelievably impatient and fractious) cellphone companies.
- My advice: If you're rich and you're about to get a tree tower giving you the finger from the highest hill in your otherwise pristine town, hire a consultant to negotiate a deal with your utility companies to let the wireless carriers string tiny repeaters down your streets. If you make an alternative available, the wireless company pretty much has to take it.
It takes forever to launch. IE just pops right open. Am I teh only one? Never really had a problem with IE in the first place. Yes, I use tha intrawebs all day long, many windows open, etc. Normal use of McAfee, AdSubtract and Spybot. Feh. - KBZ
How many lawyers does it take to change a lightbulb?
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
Such number as may be deemed necessary to perform the stated task in a timely and efficient manner within the bounds and prescriptions of the following agreement: Whereas the party of the first part, also known as "Lawyer," and the party of the second part, also known as "Light Bulb," do hereby and forthwith agree to a transaction wherein the Light Bulb shall be removed from the current position as a result of failure to perform previously agreed upon duties, i.e., the lighting, elucidation, and otherwise illumination of the area ranging from the front (north) door, through the entry way, terminating at an area just inside the primary living area, demarcated by the beginning of the carpet, any spill-over illumination being at the option of the Light Bulb and not required by the aforementioned agreement between the parties. The removal transaction shall include, but not be limited to, the following steps:
The Lawyer shall, with or without elevation at his option, by means of a chair, step stool, ladder or any other means of elevation, grasp the Light Bulb and rotate the Light Bulb in a counter-clockwise direction, said direction being non-negotiable. Grasping and rotation of the Light Bulb shall be undertaken by the Lawyer with every possible caution by the Lawyer to maintain the structural integrity of the Light Bulb, notwithstanding any failure of the Light Bulb to perform the aforementioned customary and agreed upon duties. The foregoing notwithstanding, however, both parties stipulate that structural failure of the Light Bulb may be incidental to the aforementioned failure to perform and in such case the Lawyer shall be held blameless for such structural failure insofar as this agreement is concerned so long as the non-negotiable directional codicil (counter-clockwise) is observed by the Lawyer throughout.
Upon reaching a point where the Light Bulb becomes separated from the party of the third part ("Receptacle"), the Lawyer shall have the option of disposing of the Light Bulb in a manner consistent with all applicable state, local and federal statutes.
Once separation and disposal have been achieved, the Lawyer shall have the option of beginning installation of the party of the fourth part ("New Light Bulb"). This installation shall occur in a manner consistent with the reverse of the procedures described in step one of this self-same document, being careful to note that the rotation should occur in a clockwise direction, said direction also being non-negotiable.
NOTE: The above described steps may be performed, at the option of the Lawyer, by said party, by his heirs and assigns, or by any and all persons authorized by him to do so, the objective being to produce a level of illumination in the immediate vicinity of the aforementioned front (north) door consistent with maximization of ingress and revenue for any party of the fifth part.
I think the point is that it doesn't have to do anything technologically. Basically, if just a small percentage of the million+ users click the "block" button, Cloudmark gets the message and blocks it for everyone. Then when I get that same message (or, I guess, one basically the same) it gets shunted from Inbox to Spambox.
It transformed my e-mail from a Kafka/Milton-esque mill of grinding misery into the basically useful enterprise it oughta be. Simple as that.
All it does is check your incoming mail against mail reported as spam by 1.08x10^6 other users. A simple idea, well executed. No, I don't work for them or own stock. I'm just a regular schlub who was getting 1000 spams a day for a while, did some looking around, and came up with a total winner.
... including the cashiers. In the Stop-and-Shop there are always long lines at the human checkouts, but never anyone at the self-scan. I've seen people walk by with one bag of nacho cheese Doritos, glance at the self-scan line and say, "Those things are too complicated for me."
I was a participant in a pivotal meeting in the history of ATMs:
- The year: 1987.
- The place: Sacramento.
- The participants: VPs from Wells Fargo, BofA, etc. -v- leading disability rights advocates.
- The issue: Are ATMs a convenience, thus accessibility optional, or a "public accommodation", thus accessibility required?
Predictably, the bank men were busy saying, "ATMs will never replace tellers, they're just an added convenience, but we'll make a few a bit lower so you folks can reach." The outgunned disabled reps were grasping at it, seemingly glad to get something/anything out of it.
During a break, I did some research in the California code (this was pre-ADA days, remember), realized the standards for telephones were applicable, and pushed the team to win one for the crippers. Thus energized, we rolled right over them. The bankers knew they were beaten, and after that day, ATMs standardized in an accessible design - including for hearing- and vision-disabled.
One look at the Windows instructions (http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/InstallingOnW indows) kind of had my head spinning. Any suggestions for something a bit more user-friendly? Someone recommended SpamBayes.
It's the false negatives (good mail blocked as spam) that's killing me. I have to look through the entire blocked folder - over 1000 a day. At that point, why even bother with the spam filter?:(
I went from a couple hundred spams a day to more than 1000 just over the last 2 weeks or so. Are you experiencing the same thing? Have you heard anything about this? I keep trying to get/. to post my observation as a narticle, but I guess I haven't tried on a slow enough news day yet.
Any suggestions on the latest and greatest spam filtering for a regular user?
OK, this is tangential to the topic, but...
My spam has increased by almost 10x just in the last couple of weeks. Now, well over 1000 a day!
Many are the same message over and over and over. The only thing I did recently was upgrade to the new version of SpamKiller... coincidence?
Anyone else seeing this?
The music "industry" is a temporary phenomenon brought about by the original expense and difficulty of fabricating and distributing recorded music. As this expense drops to zero, we *should* go back to the way things used to be - professional musicians making a modest income providing live entertainment for live audiences. Unfortunately, people don't go out that much anymore (except to the mall) but electronic distribution can compensate.
The music industry is dead; long live the music profession!
When you take a look at what this old-tech can really do, it's quite astounding.
The Library of Congress has an exhibition of pre-WWI (that's World War I) *color* photos of Russia shot using the exact same process. Since this was a while before any practical color photo printing processes the photographer built a "magic lantern" for "optical color projections."
Italo Calvino's description of the mythical city of Eudoxia has long been one of my master narratives for any extensive, complex structure (Internet; universe; everything):
------------
In Eudoxia, which spreads both upward and down, with winding alleys, steps, dead ends, hovels, a carpet is preserved in which you can observe the city's true form. At first sight nothing seems to resemble Eudoxia less than the design of that carpet, laid out in symmetrical motives whose patterns are repeated along straight and circular lines, interwoven with brilliantly colored spires, in a repetition that can be followed throughout the whole woof. But if you pause and examine it carefully, you become convinced that each place in the carpet corresponds to a place in the city and all the things contained in the city are included in the design, arranged according their true relationship, which escapes your eye distracted by the bustle, the throngs, the shoving. All of Eudoxia's confusion, the mules' braying, the lampblack stains, the fish smell is what is evident in the incomplete perspective you grasp; but the carpet proves that there is a point from which the city shows its true proportions, the geometrical scheme implicit in its every, tiniest detail.
It is easy to get lost in Eudoxia: but when you concentrate and stare at the carpet, you recognize the street you were seeking in a crimson or indigo or magenta threat which, in a wide loop, brings you to the purple enclosure that is your real destination. Every inhabitant of Eudoxia compares the carpet's immobile order with his own image of the city, an anguish of his own, and each can find, concealed among the arabesques, an answer, the story of his life, the twists of fate.
An oracle was questioned about the mysterious bond between two objects so dissimilar as the carpet and the city. One of the two objects -- the oracle replied -- has the form the gods gave the starry sky and the orbits in which the worlds revolve; the other is an approximate reflection, like every human creation.
For some time the augurs had been sure that the carpet's harmonious pattern was of divine origin. The oracle was interpreted in this sense, arousing no controversy. But you could, similarly, come to the opposite conclusion: that the true map of the universe is the city of Eudoxia, just as it is, a stain that spreads out shapelessly, with crooked streets, houses that crumble one upon the other amid clouds of dust, fires, screams in the darkness.
Slashdot Mirror
I always thought the problem was calibration, and more specifically that the company responsible for building and selling these was also responsible for ongoing testing, calibration and certification -- a clear conflict of interest. After that series of articles in the NYTimes a couple years ago about people getting fried to death in misconfigured x-ray machines, fear of ending up like Spock (before re-genesis of course, but I digress) was my main reason for taking the pat-down every time.
Secondary reason was European airports banning them, but that has since been reversed. UK doesn't let you opt for pat-downs, not sure about the rest of Europe.
The whole ionizing radiation deal gives me the creeps. Let's hope they do all switch over to millimeter wave. Right? Or is there a fatal flaw with those too?
.
tried fluorescents
don't like them
always find they have an artificial quality
here's my theory
.
the light from incandescent bulbs
(even frosted ones)
emanates from the relatively very small
surface area of the filament
and casts quite sharp shadows
especially noticeable closer to the bulb
.
fluorescents light up equally
over the entire surface of the glass
and cast diffuse shadows
again, especially noticeable closer to the bulb
.
my theory is
incandescents more closely replicate
the way the sun casts light and shadow
and thus seems more natural
(halogens too, but i usually have to dim them)
.
i hope the bulb makers have success
building more efficient incandescents
i will buy them
.
.
got so fed up with optical mice (decent ones too, not just cheapos) skipping on my totally generic ikea desk i plugged in a brand new old-stock totally generic dell mouse-with-ball and WOW! no skipping, noticeably perky responsiveness, and so cheap that when one gets gummed up and doesn't fix from a quick cleaning (after like a year) i can crack open a fresh one for 3 bucks - no more taping a sheet of non-shiny paper to the desk for the optical mouse
wireless mice are even worse, with the annoying "battery low" popups and skips from the weak signal - good riddance
yes, tried all the big and small trackballs, which are fine for normal stuff but excruciating (for me) in pixel-fine graphics (illustrator, photoshop, etc.)
.
.
set the case for all lower case - 4 and 7 are dots, 6 and 9 are dashes - space key is good - SOS would be keyed as 474696474, and would text as gpgmwmgpg - the method has a specific advantage visually whereby, with experience, the round part of the g and p look like dots, and the vertical lines of the m and w look like dashes - you have to oscillate between 6/9 and 4/7 to avoid "next letter lag"
i hereby release this "method of entering morse code via phone keypad as described in the paragraph above" under a creative commons license, 2005 Slashdot User KaiBeezy, some rights reserved: attribution, noncommercial, share alike
.
.
not only covered on Slashdot but Engadget http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000463042528 and probly a few K other places.
here was my uncommonly creative post on Engadget from the day:
-------------------
Posted May 6, 2005, 3:21 PM ET by KaiBeezy
.
if you learned morse code, why not just pick a couple of quickly enterable (is that a word?), easily distinguishable characters and let loose the dit dah fury?
here's how i would do it - set the case for all lower case - 4 and 7 are dots, 6 and 9 are dashes - space key is good - so SOS would be keyed as 474696474, and would text as pgpmwmgpg - this works quite nicely visually, where the round part of the p and g would start to look like dots, and the vertical lines of the m and w start to look like dashes - i bet a real morse coder could get the hang of it and whip things out on a phone pad just as fast as on a morse key
hm, maybe i should have patented that! i hereby release this "method of entering morse code via T9 pad as described in the paragraph above" under a creative commons license, 2005 qwepoi biotronics, some rights reserved: attribution, noncommercial, share alike
.
-------------------
Having been a leasing and zoning consultant on cell towers a while ago, here are some factoids:
- The fake tree approach is made difficult by the fact that the towers need to be extremely stiff. The antennas are tuned to radiate very precise flat lobes with minimal back/up/down-scatter. Even a bit of flex ruins the pattern. That's why the flagpoles and trees look so ungainly and out-of-proportion.
- Camouflage - fake trees, fake flagpoles, fake chimneys, etc. - are ungodly expensive. You can make a fake chimney, but it has to be out of fiberglass sculpted to match the building. There can be no internal metal frame which would block the signal, and even sharp interior corners of the fiberglass panels were rejected by the RF engineers. When you try to blend something into a building facade, differential weathering of exposed surfaces makes the antenna show up anyway, and you have to keep sending out painters to reapply the "make-up". $$$ The trees have to be made out of something that will stand up to weather and look OK for many years. Pine needles (fake trees are almost always "pines") in front of the antennas have to be designed not to scatter the signal. Who wants to climb the pole and replace branches? $$$
- Overly tall poles are rare. The higher the pole, the more other cells that pole can "see", the more interference. You only see really tall poles or towers in very flat areas where the RF engineers can spread things way out. In even modest topography, the coverage area per pole is surprisingly small. This is exacerbated, as pointed out in the article, by the rising demand for "in-building coverage" which requires much stronger signals.
- The best solution I was never able to implement was one which strung a series of small antennas along existing power/phone pole lines. Planners in the rich suburbs were much more amenable to this kind of thing, and the tech exists somewhat, but negotiating an agreement among the several utility companies who own the poles and right-of-ways jointly proved infuriating to the the (unbelievably impatient and fractious) cellphone companies.
- My advice: If you're rich and you're about to get a tree tower giving you the finger from the highest hill in your otherwise pristine town, hire a consultant to negotiate a deal with your utility companies to let the wireless carriers string tiny repeaters down your streets. If you make an alternative available, the wireless company pretty much has to take it.
FF launches slowly the first time, but it also opens new windows slowly every time, such as when clicking a link in an e-mail or IM. Gets old fast.
It takes forever to launch. IE just pops right open. Am I teh only one? Never really had a problem with IE in the first place. Yes, I use tha intrawebs all day long, many windows open, etc. Normal use of McAfee, AdSubtract and Spybot. Feh. - KBZ
this is more likely to kill you than ANY OTHER death due to injury in your lifetime!
Odds of Death Due to Injury, National Safety Council
Earthlink Spaminator(TM)
Seems like they're kind of wasting a name that would work pretty well in the market.
How many lawyers does it take to change a lightbulb?
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
Such number as may be deemed necessary to perform the stated task in a timely and efficient manner within the bounds and prescriptions of the following agreement: Whereas the party of the first part, also known as "Lawyer," and the party of the second part, also known as "Light Bulb," do hereby and forthwith agree to a transaction wherein the Light Bulb shall be removed from the current position as a result of failure to perform previously agreed upon duties, i.e., the lighting, elucidation, and otherwise illumination of the area ranging from the front (north) door, through the entry way, terminating at an area just inside the primary living area, demarcated by the beginning of the carpet, any spill-over illumination being at the option of the Light Bulb and not required by the aforementioned agreement between the parties. The removal transaction shall include, but not be limited to, the following steps:
The Lawyer shall, with or without elevation at his option, by means of a chair, step stool, ladder or any other means of elevation, grasp the Light Bulb and rotate the Light Bulb in a counter-clockwise direction, said direction being non-negotiable. Grasping and rotation of the Light Bulb shall be undertaken by the Lawyer with every possible caution by the Lawyer to maintain the structural integrity of the Light Bulb, notwithstanding any failure of the Light Bulb to perform the aforementioned customary and agreed upon duties. The foregoing notwithstanding, however, both parties stipulate that structural failure of the Light Bulb may be incidental to the aforementioned failure to perform and in such case the Lawyer shall be held blameless for such structural failure insofar as this agreement is concerned so long as the non-negotiable directional codicil (counter-clockwise) is observed by the Lawyer throughout.
Upon reaching a point where the Light Bulb becomes separated from the party of the third part ("Receptacle"), the Lawyer shall have the option of disposing of the Light Bulb in a manner consistent with all applicable state, local and federal statutes.
Once separation and disposal have been achieved, the Lawyer shall have the option of beginning installation of the party of the fourth part ("New Light Bulb"). This installation shall occur in a manner consistent with the reverse of the procedures described in step one of this self-same document, being careful to note that the rotation should occur in a clockwise direction, said direction also being non-negotiable.
NOTE: The above described steps may be performed, at the option of the Lawyer, by said party, by his heirs and assigns, or by any and all persons authorized by him to do so, the objective being to produce a level of illumination in the immediate vicinity of the aforementioned front (north) door consistent with maximization of ingress and revenue for any party of the fifth part.
I think the point is that it doesn't have to do anything technologically. Basically, if just a small percentage of the million+ users click the "block" button, Cloudmark gets the message and blocks it for everyone. Then when I get that same message (or, I guess, one basically the same) it gets shunted from Inbox to Spambox.
This stuff rocks. Zero false positives. Easy setup and interface. http://www.cloudmark.com/
It transformed my e-mail from a Kafka/Milton-esque mill of grinding misery into the basically useful enterprise it oughta be. Simple as that.
All it does is check your incoming mail against mail reported as spam by 1.08x10^6 other users. A simple idea, well executed. No, I don't work for them or own stock. I'm just a regular schlub who was getting 1000 spams a day for a while, did some looking around, and came up with a total winner.
... including the cashiers. In the Stop-and-Shop there are always long lines at the human checkouts, but never anyone at the self-scan. I've seen people walk by with one bag of nacho cheese Doritos, glance at the self-scan line and say, "Those things are too complicated for me."
I was a participant in a pivotal meeting in the history of ATMs:
- The year: 1987.
- The place: Sacramento.
- The participants: VPs from Wells Fargo, BofA, etc. -v- leading disability rights advocates.
- The issue: Are ATMs a convenience, thus accessibility optional, or a "public accommodation", thus accessibility required?
Predictably, the bank men were busy saying, "ATMs will never replace tellers, they're just an added convenience, but we'll make a few a bit lower so you folks can reach." The outgunned disabled reps were grasping at it, seemingly glad to get something/anything out of it.
During a break, I did some research in the California code (this was pre-ADA days, remember), realized the standards for telephones were applicable, and pushed the team to win one for the crippers. Thus energized, we rolled right over them. The bankers knew they were beaten, and after that day, ATMs standardized in an accessible design - including for hearing- and vision-disabled.
One look at the Windows instructions (http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/InstallingOnW indows) kind of had my head spinning. Any suggestions for something a bit more user-friendly? Someone recommended SpamBayes.
:(
It's the false negatives (good mail blocked as spam) that's killing me. I have to look through the entire blocked folder - over 1000 a day. At that point, why even bother with the spam filter?
I went from a couple hundred spams a day to more than 1000 just over the last 2 weeks or so. Are you experiencing the same thing? Have you heard anything about this? I keep trying to get /. to post my observation as a narticle, but I guess I haven't tried on a slow enough news day yet.
Any suggestions on the latest and greatest spam filtering for a regular user?
OK, this is tangential to the topic, but... My spam has increased by almost 10x just in the last couple of weeks. Now, well over 1000 a day! Many are the same message over and over and over. The only thing I did recently was upgrade to the new version of SpamKiller... coincidence? Anyone else seeing this?
The music "industry" is a temporary phenomenon brought about by the original expense and difficulty of fabricating and distributing recorded music. As this expense drops to zero, we *should* go back to the way things used to be - professional musicians making a modest income providing live entertainment for live audiences. Unfortunately, people don't go out that much anymore (except to the mall) but electronic distribution can compensate. The music industry is dead; long live the music profession!
When you take a look at what this old-tech can really do, it's quite astounding.
The Library of Congress has an exhibition of pre-WWI (that's World War I) *color* photos of Russia shot using the exact same process. Since this was a while before any practical color photo printing processes the photographer built a "magic lantern" for "optical color projections."
Props to Bolo Boffin for the link.
Italo Calvino's description of the mythical city of Eudoxia has long been one of my master narratives for any extensive, complex structure (Internet; universe; everything):
------------
In Eudoxia, which spreads both upward and down, with winding alleys, steps, dead ends, hovels, a carpet is preserved in which you can observe the city's true form. At first sight nothing seems to resemble Eudoxia less than the design of that carpet, laid out in symmetrical motives whose patterns are repeated along straight and circular lines, interwoven with brilliantly colored spires, in a repetition that can be followed throughout the whole woof. But if you pause and examine it carefully, you become convinced that each place in the carpet corresponds to a place in the city and all the things contained in the city are included in the design, arranged according their true relationship, which escapes your eye distracted by the bustle, the throngs, the shoving. All of Eudoxia's confusion, the mules' braying, the lampblack stains, the fish smell is what is evident in the incomplete perspective you grasp; but the carpet proves that there is a point from which the city shows its true proportions, the geometrical scheme implicit in its every, tiniest detail.
It is easy to get lost in Eudoxia: but when you concentrate and stare at the carpet, you recognize the street you were seeking in a crimson or indigo or magenta threat which, in a wide loop, brings you to the purple enclosure that is your real destination. Every inhabitant of Eudoxia compares the carpet's immobile order with his own image of the city, an anguish of his own, and each can find, concealed among the arabesques, an answer, the story of his life, the twists of fate.
An oracle was questioned about the mysterious bond between two objects so dissimilar as the carpet and the city. One of the two objects -- the oracle replied -- has the form the gods gave the starry sky and the orbits in which the worlds revolve; the other is an approximate reflection, like every human creation.
For some time the augurs had been sure that the carpet's harmonious pattern was of divine origin. The oracle was interpreted in this sense, arousing no controversy. But you could, similarly, come to the opposite conclusion: that the true map of the universe is the city of Eudoxia, just as it is, a stain that spreads out shapelessly, with crooked streets, houses that crumble one upon the other amid clouds of dust, fires, screams in the darkness.
- from Invisible Cities
You spelled "Ugh" wrong.