A panoramic view of the Gingerman Pub

My new TRex 600 EFL Pro is finally starting to look like a helicopter, now that I've attached the tail assembly. Just need to install the main gear, then it's on to setting up the electronics. Barstow (cat) is inspecting it.

Brilliant

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New helicopter starts to take shape

Some thoughts about my friend Oliver Schmelzle, who passed away on Wednesday night.

Remembering Oliver Schmelzle | Hypergraphia Indulged

Old helicopter canopy (left) versus new helicopter canopy (right). This is a big helicopter.

Economics really is the "dismal science". While this term was originally referring to the idea that some people would always be on the brink of starvation because people would keep reproducing until they exhaust the food supply, I think now it refers to the fact that it's a "science" that behaves a lot more like two competing football teams with diametrically opposed solutions to every problem. A "science" shouldn't behave like that.

I've been thinking about whether one could create a simulation of an economy that would seek to answer these fundamental questions. I'm thinking that you could simulate people's behavior using "agents" that use some kind of reinforcement learning, combined with a tendency to imitate people around them.

I think part of the challenge will be engineering just the right amount of stupidity into the artificially intelligent agents to accurately mirror human behavior.

Stopped by the "Occupy Austin" protest downtown to see what the story is. A motley mix of Ron Paul Libertarians, leftist hippies, one US Marine, and a few bemused APD cops (observing, not protesting). Oh, and a few TV news crews. Lots of signs about "Banksters" and "we are the 99%", which sounded a bit class-warfare-ish.

View of downtown Austin from the Long Center, when Janie and I went to see the ballet