Potpourri CLI
The busy-ness continues. I'll provide more details about ISDC and the Science Cheerleader thing as the Outreach Coordinator (i.e. that'd be your humble narrator) writes them. :-) Meanwhile, on to other things!
Where has all the oil gone in the Gulf? Well, we've captured some, some is still leaking and floating around out there or polluting the beaches, and some...well, some of it is being eaten by bacteria.
Is the web hurting Gen Y’s critical thinking skills? My guess would be yes...but not just theirs.
From Karen: a bacon wallet. Furreal.
This is pretty cool: the Kepler telescope has detected its first multi-planet solar system out there among all them-thar bright stars. We are living in an age of wonders, my friends. Gotta pay attention out there.
A summary of 11 great operas in 10 minutes. Caveat visor: I have watched this yet, it just sounded fun.
Okay, this will make you feel very healthy, sane, and well-adjusted. Some dude has spent $250,000 remaking himself to look like a lizard. Did anyone at ANY time consider offering this guy counseling? Like, ever? Seriously. Dude.
I need to re-watch this video and respond at some point. It is an attempt to redefine what ethics should look like in the 21st century. I found myself reacting against some of it, because either the logic or assumptions were fuzzy. Or, perhaps, because I found the conclusions unrealistic. But then most of my philosophical influences are either ancient or from the Enlightenment, which are exactly the things the piece is criticizing. Go figure.
An essay talking about fear in our lives, but also fear in airport security. I liked its new term "the fear tax." Worth reading.
Note to people who both a) want to visit Afghanistan and b) perform public displays of affection. Uh, don't: Taliban militants stoned a couple to death over alleged love affair.
Showing posts with label oil spill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oil spill. Show all posts
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Potpourri CXLVI
Too bad Blogger thinks I'm too "obscene" to make money, because this really is a fun gig. They refuse to answer my question on what, specifically, caused them to block me from making money via their assorted sponsors. Pity. Anyhow, the frivolity continues. There's some wacky stuff out on that-thar interwebs thang, so allow me to share more of what I've found.
Science, Technology, and Space
A bladeless fan maze, courtesy of Dyson. I won't even pretend to understand how they did this.
A clock that knits a scarf once a year.
Graphic: how we subsidize fossil fuels. My comment: this does not include the hundreds of billions we spend keeping soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines in the oil-producing regions protecting our access to said fuels. Are we ready to say yes to nuclear power, space solar power, and other high-density, low-carbon energy sources?
The upper atmosphere appears to have collapsed somehow, and even NASA doesn't know why. More to the point, what are the repercussions?
A history of the jet-powered car.
SpaceShipTwo has had its first flight with a crew aboard.
NASA's Lori Garver addresses the Senate authorization bill.
From D2:
Ferris Buehler meets Fight Club. No, really.
From various sources, but the Old Spice guy (the man your man could smell like) has morphed into a YouTube phenomenon. And now word that the Old Spice Guy has retired.
A kid came up with a creative way to get out of answering a quiz question.
For Doc: a giant dip pen.
What was the need for a movie about Facebook? Never mind, I'm still trying to figure out why someone decided to make a Brady Bunch movie.
An iPad-only novel is coming out.
It’s becoming interesting to me that some of the links I find could fit into either the Culture or Sci/Tech/Space section. Consider the following:
An 18th century ship was found at the World Trade Center site.
eBay crashes as millions of unwanted vuvuzelas going up for sale. What, you think I'd kid about this? Side note: I really hope my fellow Americans take decisive action against importing such things into this country.
Tom Olson had a recommendation on a place you can buy silver online.
A bladeless fan maze, courtesy of Dyson. I won't even pretend to understand how they did this.
A clock that knits a scarf once a year.
Graphic: how we subsidize fossil fuels. My comment: this does not include the hundreds of billions we spend keeping soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines in the oil-producing regions protecting our access to said fuels. Are we ready to say yes to nuclear power, space solar power, and other high-density, low-carbon energy sources?
The upper atmosphere appears to have collapsed somehow, and even NASA doesn't know why. More to the point, what are the repercussions?
A history of the jet-powered car.
SpaceShipTwo has had its first flight with a crew aboard.
NASA's Lori Garver addresses the Senate authorization bill.
From D2:
Add this to the list of reasons spam is the World’s Most Annoying Modern Invention: It destroys the Earth.Culture
According to a new infographic by Antonio Lupetti for Woork Up, spam spews more than 20 million tons of CO2 a year. The biggest polluter is, of course, the United States, which cranks out 20.8 percent of the world’s spam, amounting to 11.4 k/ tons of CO2 a day. India comes in a distant second, with 7.5 percent of global spam production and 4.12 k/ tons of CO2 a day.
Ferris Buehler meets Fight Club. No, really.
From various sources, but the Old Spice guy (the man your man could smell like) has morphed into a YouTube phenomenon. And now word that the Old Spice Guy has retired.
A kid came up with a creative way to get out of answering a quiz question.
For Doc: a giant dip pen.
What was the need for a movie about Facebook? Never mind, I'm still trying to figure out why someone decided to make a Brady Bunch movie.
An iPad-only novel is coming out.
It’s becoming interesting to me that some of the links I find could fit into either the Culture or Sci/Tech/Space section. Consider the following:
- This item of art
- This article about my pal Dar
- A story about Star Trek’s website getting a makeover. Got to say I'm not impressed.
- A social fundraising website.
- Twittering habits during the World Cup.
- A science fiction movie about “dream security.” Oh yes, and Widge has a Wayhomer review of said movie. He calls it a "mind grope" and that "it will make your brain hurt." Make of that what you will, but he definitely recommends seeing it.
An 18th century ship was found at the World Trade Center site.
eBay crashes as millions of unwanted vuvuzelas going up for sale. What, you think I'd kid about this? Side note: I really hope my fellow Americans take decisive action against importing such things into this country.
Tom Olson had a recommendation on a place you can buy silver online.
A one-man Lord of the Rings is being presented off Broadway.
Here's a slogan from Doc, courtesy of Mike Tyson.
Corvette has a new ad that references the space program. I like it, actually.
Steampunk Mr. Potato Head and gas mask.
A bin Laden satire film has been banned by a Pakistani censor board.
Evil fortune cookies? Yes.
A women-only frustration booth has opened in China. Reminds me of the glass-breaking rooms in Fahrenheit 451.
Your daily dose of Disney: paper sculptures for Disneyland’s 55th anniversary.
Okay, so this was weird: someone has created a site where, if you plug in a sample of your writing, it will tell you what famous author's style your stuff most resembles. A piece of my actual fiction came back as Dan Brown, author of The DaVinci Code. Ick. But just for fun, I also plugged in a sample of my conference paper writing from work, and it came back H. P. Lovecraft. I'm trying to imagine juxtaposing transcendent, nameless horrors and launch vehicle development, and the mind just reels. But then some of my nightmares over the past month have kind of gone that way, so I guess maybe I can see it. Anyhow, plug in a swatch of your writing and check out the results. Charles Dickens came back Charles Dickens (amazing!), but Robert A. Heinlein came back Isaac Asimov, so their analytical engine is not comprehensive. Just a fair warning.
Here was an interesting question from the TED discussion group in LinkedIn: "Who are you? Could you tell the 'story of you' in six words?" My answer? "Born broken, he got better. Really."
Here was an interesting question from the TED discussion group in LinkedIn: "Who are you? Could you tell the 'story of you' in six words?" My answer? "Born broken, he got better. Really."
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Potpourri CXLV
Laissez les bon temps rouler...
Culture
It was "Embrace Your Geekness Day" at the New York Stock Exchange today. Get in touch with it, y'all!
NASA is sponsoring a science fiction writer's workshop. Hmmmm. Of course I had some snarky individuals tell me that I have been writing science fiction for the last four years, as I was writing for Constellation. That's just mean.
I think I've found a birthday gift for Doc: a coffee cup that combines Twitter and Cthulu.
Disney's new version of The Sorceror's Apprentice has a Facebook contest where you can win a trip to Disneyland and a chance to be an "Imagineer for a Day." Cool. Unfortunately, my stepmom still works for Disney, so I believe that makes me ineligible. Dagnabbit!
There's a place offering ninja training as a homeowner benefit. Weird.
From Father Dan: What's the future of furniture? Check this out.
Flight Global commemorated the 70th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Britain this week.
This was just cool: Art Deco trains from yesteryear.
Ever kissed an octopus? Me, neither. But some folks have. Blecchh.
Suggestions for making soccer more exciting (good luck with that): http://www.sciencecheerleader.com/2010/07/soccer-fever/#more-3040. My buddy Anika suggested to me that some folks view soccer as the equivalent of war. Well, okay, but if so, they need to work on their tactics. I actually watched the last 30 minutes of the World Cup, after napping through the first 90, and I noticed that while defensive formations/maneuvers tended to have 2-1 or better advantages, offensive efforts toward the goal tended to be singular, one-on-one play. When on defense, teams seem to fill their side of the field, but when it comes to scoring goals—you know, the point of the game—the offense only sends 3-5 players across midfield. Is that on purpose? Are those part of the rules of soccer? That, and perhaps the teams were too big for the game. Doc suggested that the field was too big—you can see higher scores in (for example) American high school games because they’re playing on an American football field. A smaller field tends to increase the likelihood of contact between teams. Anyhow, there are options for making the games more exciting (e.g. higher scoring). It’s very difficult to convince American audiences that “competitive” games that end with a 0-0 score are exciting. More scoring at least give one a sense of drama, rise and fall, changing fortunes, what have you. When a game goes on for nearly two hours and the most suspense you can muster is whether someone will score, that, my friends, is a recipe for a channel changing. Or a nap.
Here's an impressive, but vertigo-inducing hotel to see if you're ever in Singapore.
Suggestions for making soccer more exciting (good luck with that): http://www.sciencecheerleader.com/2010/07/soccer-fever/#more-3040. My buddy Anika suggested to me that some folks view soccer as the equivalent of war. Well, okay, but if so, they need to work on their tactics. I actually watched the last 30 minutes of the World Cup, after napping through the first 90, and I noticed that while defensive formations/maneuvers tended to have 2-1 or better advantages, offensive efforts toward the goal tended to be singular, one-on-one play. When on defense, teams seem to fill their side of the field, but when it comes to scoring goals—you know, the point of the game—the offense only sends 3-5 players across midfield. Is that on purpose? Are those part of the rules of soccer? That, and perhaps the teams were too big for the game. Doc suggested that the field was too big—you can see higher scores in (for example) American high school games because they’re playing on an American football field. A smaller field tends to increase the likelihood of contact between teams. Anyhow, there are options for making the games more exciting (e.g. higher scoring). It’s very difficult to convince American audiences that “competitive” games that end with a 0-0 score are exciting. More scoring at least give one a sense of drama, rise and fall, changing fortunes, what have you. When a game goes on for nearly two hours and the most suspense you can muster is whether someone will score, that, my friends, is a recipe for a channel changing. Or a nap.
Here's an impressive, but vertigo-inducing hotel to see if you're ever in Singapore.
Science, Technology, and Space
From Tracy: an historical review of the NASA budget early in the Constellation Program. She made the point that there wasn't enough money for Shuttle and ISS at the time, which goes a long way toward explaining why there wasn't enough for exploration. Hm.
What do futurists actually do for a living? Check this out.
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation has a Frequently Asked Questions document out to address "myths" regarding commercial space launch providers. For the most part, the document is on point. However, they neglect to address "human rating" standards, which are basically a bunch of extra bells and whistles that NASA adds to space hardware to ensure that astronauts have a better chance of surviving an emergency.
NASA has three new "Centennial Challenges" out there for competition.
This item made me a little crazy: some writer is advocating for the ending of air conditioning in the name of global warming. Brings to mind Jimmy Carter's suggestion that people turn down their heat and wear more sweaters when the fear was global freezing. My sarcastic response is, "You first, pal. Good luck with that." On a more practical note, people are about four times more likely to die from heat-related complications than freezing to death (see the Center for Disease Control here and here for the stats).
Brevard County, Florida (home of Kennedy Space Center) has its own version of Huntsville Space Professionals at work.
Paul Spudis has an article this week on NASA that's worth reading.
The future of composite repairs. This will become a bigger and bigger concern, as more and more aircraft have a larger percentage of their airframes made from composites.
From MIT: The Never Ending Drawing Machine
Graphical comparisons of the Gulf oil spill to other historical spills. While ugly, it’s not the worst (yet), by a long shot. http://www.fastcompany.com/1657758/infographic-of-the-day-the-gulf-oil-spill-isnt-the-biggest-but-itll-be-the-costliest-by-far and http://www.sciencebase.com/science-blog/three-decades-of-major-oil-spills.html.
Senator Nelson is looking to revive the Constellation Program at the expense of commercial-space launches. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-nelson-overturns-nasa-plans-20100711,0,2094998.story. NASA could be in for a long summer, waiting for its budget to come in.
From MIT: The Never Ending Drawing Machine
Graphical comparisons of the Gulf oil spill to other historical spills. While ugly, it’s not the worst (yet), by a long shot. http://www.fastcompany.com/1657758/infographic-of-the-day-the-gulf-oil-spill-isnt-the-biggest-but-itll-be-the-costliest-by-far and http://www.sciencebase.com/science-blog/three-decades-of-major-oil-spills.html.
Senator Nelson is looking to revive the Constellation Program at the expense of commercial-space launches. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-nelson-overturns-nasa-plans-20100711,0,2094998.story. NASA could be in for a long summer, waiting for its budget to come in.
Foreign Affairs
The bad guys are still out there. An al Qaeda-affiliated group from Somalia killed a bunch of people watching the World Cup in Uganda when South Africa's security proved too tough.
Education
This article deals with both education and creativity, and the state of both in this country. One interesting note: while this country is trying to "get back to basics," other nations are trying to copy our model.
Economy / Jobs
For my Huntsville friends...the following companies are hiring:
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Potpourri CXLI
Science, Technology, and Space
And you thought your job sucked? Check out this accident report from the National Transportation Safety Board: http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20060131X00140&ntsbno=DFW06FA056&akey=1
The politics of open government: http://govfresh.com/2010/05/the-politics-of-open-government-free-speech/
Russia is starting a 520-day Mars simulation mission: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100602/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_mission_to_mars
Oil Stories…worst case, the leak might last through Christmas: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aPfFTgqayIKY&pos=9
A 21-year-old in NY has a proposed solution for the leak: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/leak_solution_Zw3RdLcmYcdsA4UAz6WMwM#ixzz0phF8fb9b
A little history on the spill…the present mess is not the worst the Gulf of Mexico has seen: http://news.discovery.com/earth/gulf-oil-spill-ixtoc.html, nor is it the largest spill in world history. That distinct dishonor belongs to Saddam Hussein and his troops, who dumped over 400 million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf: http://employees.oneonta.edu/baumanpr/geosat2/Environmental_Warfare/ENVIRONMENTAL_WARFARE.htm. There is some hope for recovery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War_oil_spill), though military friends of mine tell me you shouldn’t go swimming in the Persian Gulf anyway. Space-based solar power doesn’t do any of this, folks…but it’s hard to prove until we try to build a satellite.
From Lin, a couple of reports on the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship:
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/06/02/the-navys-new-corvette/?test=latestnews and http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/scitech/2010/06/02/military-tech-action/?test=faces#slide=1. Too bad they're likely to cancel it.
NASA is seeking research proposals for "green" aircraft: http://nspires.nasaprs.com/
From Hu: Coke bottles and Mentos. What could be better? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-hXcRtbj1Y&feature=player_embedded
As Jimmy Durante used to say, "Everybody wants to get in on the act." Dolphins are now using iPads: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/01/dolphin-uses-ipad-as.html
Also from ISDC: a great debate turns out to be a bit of a dud: http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/05/30/the-other-great-debate/
Satellite highlights of the 2009 hurricane season: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=14606692
From Kate Down Under:
A golf ball hitting a steel plate at 150 miles per hour. That reminds me, I need to get to the driving range when I'm done blogging here. http://www.wservernews.com/56LS6X/100531-Slow-Motion
The X Prize Foundation is hiring... http://www.xprize.org/about/join-our-team
Speaking of hiring, Doc pointed out this site for people looking for a job in the gaming business: http://www.gamasutra.com/jobs/
From Hu:
Here's something new: "Random Hacks of Kindness," putting this interweb stuff to constructive purposes. http://www.rhok.org/events/rhok-1-0/
Another argument for killing Constellation: pollution. http://spacenews.com/commentaries/100524-obama-rocket.html
From @DindraneErin: quantum teleportation. Neato! http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/05/quantum-teleportation-achieved-over-ten-miles-of-free-space.ars
Education
The National Academies have a cool podcast series called The Sounds of Science. One of their recent 'casts was about STEM education, alwasy a favorite topic of Your Humble Narrator. Enjoy!
D2 finally got back to me on what she meant by "stealth STEM."
Teacherrrrs innnn SPAAAAACE! http://www.teachersinspace.org/
A kid-made science kit: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/25/kid-made-science-kit.html
Not sure I hold with all of this, but Lin forwarded the following editorial on how to improve schools: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2010/05/improving_schools_by_paying_te.html. Lin also provided the following thoughts as well: http://theempressisnaked.blogspot.com/2010/05/yeah-but-never-did-anything-worthwhile.html. (Expecting Sabine not to like these...)
This is sort of a space thing, but it can also fit under the "citizen science" rubric, so I'll do a little relocating. MoonZoo.org wants people to do detailed counts of craters on the lunar surface. http://www.moonzoo.org/about
U.S. Politics
Conservative women are running for Congress in record numbers: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127369770
A TSA critic passes through the airport: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/24/schneier-at-the-airp.html
Foreign Affairs
Someone suggested this as a “solution” for Israel’s problems with their neighbors: http://wargames.co.uk/Poems/Grave.htm. Western military minds don’t think this way anymore.
The U.S. will join South Korea in a military exercise off the North Korean coast: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Media/us-join-south-korea-military-exercise-north-korea/story?id=10807101 ... and North Korea threatens military action: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NKorea_says_Souths_navy_trespassed_warns_of_military_action_999.html
This is from awhile ago, but it's just a reminder that it's a dangerous world out there (like we needed any more reminders?): http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/05/24/embassy-jamaica-curtails-service-accused-drug-lords-impending-extradition-spurs/
Culture
From Lin:
From Anika:
Now on a t-shirt: "I'm an English major, you do the math."
Some words of wisdom regarding your old friend, the #2 pencil: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/57276
Whatever happened to achievements? http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/06/achievement-unlocked/
Three Saudi youths are in trouble with the Saudi Arabian religious police after appearing on an MTV reality show: http://alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE6500FV.htm
My buddy Tammie is trying win a $600 writing class. If you have time to vote could you please go to http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/content.php?242-First-Step-Contest and click #59 "Four demons down ... but how many remained?" Just tryin' to help.
One of D2's friends has a new food and wine blog worth checking out. This site does serious "long form" essays and reviews on food and wine.
D2 also shared this: Star Wars cookie cutters. Because, really, every home should have some. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/star-wars-cookie-cutter/
Not sure what the point of Wimp.com is, but they have a great video of three teenage kids belting out O Sole Mio. Do they even give American kids vocal lessons anymore? http://www.wimp.com/threetenors/
What, you didn't know? The movie Airplane was a serious sendup of the '50s movie "Zero Hour." http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/26/airplane-side-by-sid.html
Hmmmm...what Disney Princesses supposedly teach girls about life: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/24/what-disney-princess.html
From Anthony in Hong Kong: all the comforts of home in a Beijing wet bar. http://8daysshanghaibeijing.posterous.com/all-the-conveniences-of-home
From Martin: another Star Trek fan film: http://videos.startrekphase2media.com/Enemy/
You want information? I don't think so: http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/pdf/welcome.html
The rich are different from you and me, they have more money. …they have more money. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/home/orl-celebrity-home-pictures,0,6820906.photogallery
D2 and I are big fans of TED Talks. Here's a talk that takes a punchy look at things and demystify how to create a create TED talk. D2 also directed me to the site that can make it happen: http://get-tedpad.com/
From the MSN Relationships department, an attempt to "demystify dude theory." Well, maybe. http://glo.msn.com/relationships/debunking-dude-theory-1533313.story?gt1=49000
Science, Technology, and Space
And you thought your job sucked? Check out this accident report from the National Transportation Safety Board: http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20060131X00140&ntsbno=DFW06FA056&akey=1
The politics of open government: http://govfresh.com/2010/05/the-politics-of-open-government-free-speech/
Russia is starting a 520-day Mars simulation mission: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100602/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_mission_to_mars
Oil Stories…worst case, the leak might last through Christmas: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aPfFTgqayIKY&pos=9
A 21-year-old in NY has a proposed solution for the leak: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/leak_solution_Zw3RdLcmYcdsA4UAz6WMwM#ixzz0phF8fb9b
A little history on the spill…the present mess is not the worst the Gulf of Mexico has seen: http://news.discovery.com/earth/gulf-oil-spill-ixtoc.html, nor is it the largest spill in world history. That distinct dishonor belongs to Saddam Hussein and his troops, who dumped over 400 million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf: http://employees.oneonta.edu/baumanpr/geosat2/Environmental_Warfare/ENVIRONMENTAL_WARFARE.htm. There is some hope for recovery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War_oil_spill), though military friends of mine tell me you shouldn’t go swimming in the Persian Gulf anyway. Space-based solar power doesn’t do any of this, folks…but it’s hard to prove until we try to build a satellite.
From Lin, a couple of reports on the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship:
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/06/02/the-navys-new-corvette/?test=latestnews and http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/scitech/2010/06/02/military-tech-action/?test=faces#slide=1. Too bad they're likely to cancel it.
NASA is seeking research proposals for "green" aircraft: http://nspires.nasaprs.com/
From Hu: Coke bottles and Mentos. What could be better? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-hXcRtbj1Y&feature=player_embedded
As Jimmy Durante used to say, "Everybody wants to get in on the act." Dolphins are now using iPads: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/01/dolphin-uses-ipad-as.html
Also from ISDC: a great debate turns out to be a bit of a dud: http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/05/30/the-other-great-debate/
Satellite highlights of the 2009 hurricane season: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=14606692
From Kate Down Under:
- NASA Revives Voyager 2 Probe at Solar System's Edge - Yahoo! News http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100529/sc_space/nasarevivesvoyager2probeatsolarsystemsedge
- The conspiracy behind the conspiracy: http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2009/08/12/de-classified-documents-reveal-4th-astronaut-%e2%80%98accidentally-left-behind%e2%80%99-after-first-moon-landing/
- This ain't over: Shuttle Atlantis could fly one more mission before retiring. http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100526/sc_space/shuttleatlantiscouldstillflyonemoremissionbeforeretiring
A golf ball hitting a steel plate at 150 miles per hour. That reminds me, I need to get to the driving range when I'm done blogging here. http://www.wservernews.com/56LS6X/100531-Slow-Motion
The X Prize Foundation is hiring... http://www.xprize.org/about/join-our-team
Speaking of hiring, Doc pointed out this site for people looking for a job in the gaming business: http://www.gamasutra.com/jobs/
From Hu:
- NASA unveils a satellite system for locating lost hikers, boaters, and other lost outdoorsy types: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-satellite-rescue-beacon-20100525,0,2765269.story?track=rss
- Autonomous robots could be used for Homeland Security: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/25/mighty-machines-autonomous-robots-could-be-used-ho/
Here's something new: "Random Hacks of Kindness," putting this interweb stuff to constructive purposes. http://www.rhok.org/events/rhok-1-0/
Another argument for killing Constellation: pollution. http://spacenews.com/commentaries/100524-obama-rocket.html
From @DindraneErin: quantum teleportation. Neato! http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/05/quantum-teleportation-achieved-over-ten-miles-of-free-space.ars
Education
The National Academies have a cool podcast series called The Sounds of Science. One of their recent 'casts was about STEM education, alwasy a favorite topic of Your Humble Narrator. Enjoy!
D2 finally got back to me on what she meant by "stealth STEM."
http://water.signtific.org/Thanks!
You take a regular guy/gal. They play a game. They solve an EPIC world problem - or just propose solutions. They get hooked on the topic. They want to know more / do more. And they pursue it.
Like an English major who dreamed of Space.
Teacherrrrs innnn SPAAAAACE! http://www.teachersinspace.org/
A kid-made science kit: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/25/kid-made-science-kit.html
Not sure I hold with all of this, but Lin forwarded the following editorial on how to improve schools: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2010/05/improving_schools_by_paying_te.html. Lin also provided the following thoughts as well: http://theempressisnaked.blogspot.com/2010/05/yeah-but-never-did-anything-worthwhile.html. (Expecting Sabine not to like these...)
This is sort of a space thing, but it can also fit under the "citizen science" rubric, so I'll do a little relocating. MoonZoo.org wants people to do detailed counts of craters on the lunar surface. http://www.moonzoo.org/about
U.S. Politics
Conservative women are running for Congress in record numbers: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127369770
A TSA critic passes through the airport: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/24/schneier-at-the-airp.html
Foreign Affairs
Someone suggested this as a “solution” for Israel’s problems with their neighbors: http://wargames.co.uk/Poems/Grave.htm. Western military minds don’t think this way anymore.
The U.S. will join South Korea in a military exercise off the North Korean coast: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Media/us-join-south-korea-military-exercise-north-korea/story?id=10807101 ... and North Korea threatens military action: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NKorea_says_Souths_navy_trespassed_warns_of_military_action_999.html
This is from awhile ago, but it's just a reminder that it's a dangerous world out there (like we needed any more reminders?): http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/05/24/embassy-jamaica-curtails-service-accused-drug-lords-impending-extradition-spurs/
Culture
From Lin:
- This is kind of cool: a way to give kids toys at low cost: http://www.unplugdesign.com/project2.html
From Anika:
- A podcast of a Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion: http://www.vtwproductions.com/home/2010/5/30/podcast-of-the-star-trektng-reunion.html
- You suck at Craigslist, a site dedicate to people who just can't put decent Craigslist ads together: http://www.yousuckatcraigslist.com/
- Some interesting artwork involving Muppets and Star Wars characters: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/05/james-hance-channels-our-collective-inner-geek/
- An artist who works with recycled packaging. No, really... http://www15.ocn.ne.jp/~package/package_002.htm
Now on a t-shirt: "I'm an English major, you do the math."
Some words of wisdom regarding your old friend, the #2 pencil: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/57276
Whatever happened to achievements? http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/06/achievement-unlocked/
Three Saudi youths are in trouble with the Saudi Arabian religious police after appearing on an MTV reality show: http://alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE6500FV.htm
My buddy Tammie is trying win a $600 writing class. If you have time to vote could you please go to http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/content.php?242-First-Step-Contest and click #59 "Four demons down ... but how many remained?" Just tryin' to help.
One of D2's friends has a new food and wine blog worth checking out. This site does serious "long form" essays and reviews on food and wine.
D2 also shared this: Star Wars cookie cutters. Because, really, every home should have some. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/star-wars-cookie-cutter/
Not sure what the point of Wimp.com is, but they have a great video of three teenage kids belting out O Sole Mio. Do they even give American kids vocal lessons anymore? http://www.wimp.com/threetenors/
What, you didn't know? The movie Airplane was a serious sendup of the '50s movie "Zero Hour." http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/26/airplane-side-by-sid.html
Hmmmm...what Disney Princesses supposedly teach girls about life: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/24/what-disney-princess.html
From Anthony in Hong Kong: all the comforts of home in a Beijing wet bar. http://8daysshanghaibeijing.posterous.com/all-the-conveniences-of-home
From Martin: another Star Trek fan film: http://videos.startrekphase2media.com/Enemy/
You want information? I don't think so: http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/pdf/welcome.html
The rich are different from you and me, they have more money. …they have more money. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/home/orl-celebrity-home-pictures,0,6820906.photogallery
D2 and I are big fans of TED Talks. Here's a talk that takes a punchy look at things and demystify how to create a create TED talk. D2 also directed me to the site that can make it happen: http://get-tedpad.com/
From the MSN Relationships department, an attempt to "demystify dude theory." Well, maybe. http://glo.msn.com/relationships/debunking-dude-theory-1533313.story?gt1=49000
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Potpourri CXL
Science, Technology, and Space
Buy James Bond’s car…with gizmos! http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/autos/1006/gallery.james_bond_car/index.html
Down in a hole in Guatemala: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/01/storm-agatha-hole-guatemala
Intriguing question: what will you say if SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch fails? http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1636/1
Interesting NASA spinoff…long-duration underwear: http://online.wsj.com/video/not-quite-rocket-science-2-week-underwear/E670662E-7041-42D3-8FE1-549FFB808FC2.html
Effects of oil spill on wetlands: http://www.sciencecheerleader.com/2010/05/brief-review-effects-of-oil-on-wetlands/
Web 2.0 at the Department of Defense: http://www.sciencecheerleader.com/2010/05/gov-2-0-emerges-at-the-department-of-defense/
Real-life version of Minority Report’s user interface: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/01/real-life-version-of.html
Sony has developed a device that sends Twitter postings for cats by monitoring their activities…at least until the cats figure out a way to remove the things (my guess): http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/01/sony-makes-tweeting.html
Mega projects under consideration in Japan. There was a time Americans thought ambitiously in this manner: http://pinktentacle.com/2010/06/futuristic-mega-projects-by-shimizu/
The Navy is testing a laser weapon: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/05/31/navy.death.ray.wired/
The Sunlight Foundation has announced the winners of the “Design for America” competition, which was developed to suggest cool things to do with the U.S. Government’s new “open data” feeds: http://sunlightlabs.com/blog/2010/design-america-winners/
There’s a new line of robot vacuum cleaners out there—I really need one of these! http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/01/msi-robot-vacuums-invade-computex-set-sights-on-roomba/
EA has come out with a hockey stick for the Wii: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/01/eas-nhl-slapshot-packs-gretzky-approved-wiimote-hockey-stick/
What sorts of space missions could we do if we had unlimited funding? Try this: http://gizmodo.com/5552488/we-could-get-to-neptune-and-back-in-5-years-for-a-mere-4-trillion
The 747-mounted SOFIA telescope has taken its first infrared pictures of Jupiter: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/flying-telescope-sofia-nasa-photos-100601.html
The U.S. Air Force had the first flight test of the X-51 Waverider aerospace craft, which is powered by a scramjet, flying up to Mach 5: http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/awst/2010/05/31/AW_05_31_2010_p27-230271.xml&headline=X-51A%20Team%20Eyes%20Results%20Of%20Scramjet%20Flight&channel=awst
Domestic Politics
Peggy Noonan, Mark Steyn, and Jerry Pournelle on Obama’s handling of the oil gusher: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704269204575270950789108846.html, http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/05/27/were-too-broke-to-be-this-stupid/, and http://www.jerrypournelle.com/view/2010/Q2/view624.html#Friday
The Dow dropped 112 points on word that Attorney General Holder is going to start criminal investigations into the BP oil gusher in the Gulf: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9G2N1M00&show_article=1
Foreign Affairs
Iran has enough fissionable material to make two nuclear weapons: http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=177064
Euro hits a new low: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100601/D9G2FC8O4.html
Canada is reassessing its healthcare model: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100531/hl_nm/us_health_3
So while I was out of town for the weekend, the Israeli Defense Forces intercepted aid ships heading for the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip because they were bringing in weapons. The activists who weren’t killed in the raid are to be deported. http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177178
Culture
A stop-motion animation video game. Cool! http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/01/video-alex-varaneses.html
A man repeatedly called 911 after his mother took his beer. Brilliant. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/01/1657707/pasco-man-charged-after-911-call.html
A psychology professor has written a paper on why “self-experimentation” is unusually effective. Uh, yeah, BUT… http://sethroberts.net/articles/2010%2520The%2520unreasonable%2520effectiveness%2520of%2520my%2520self-experimentation.pdf
So we’ve had it wrong all these years: they’re not mad scientists, they’re mad engineers! http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/01/the-dark-side-of-eng.html
For Doc: a Lovecraftian art exhibition… http://observatoryroom.org/2010/05/26/exhibition-opening-a-love-craft/
SpongeBob Square Pants at age 50: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/31/spongebob-age-50.html
Was there really a need for this? Ewok karaoke: http://www.swtorstrategies.com/2010/05/may-schwartz-be-with-you-ewok-karaoke.html
Here’s something for aspiring SF writers to try: a virtual “write-a-thon.” http://www.theclarionfoundation.org/writeathon/wrtn-home.htm
Actually sorry to hear this: Al and Tipper Gore are separating after 40 years of marriage. Tipper made Gore a nice contrast to Bill Clinton. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-us-gore-separation,0,2616256.story
Science, Technology, and Space
Buy James Bond’s car…with gizmos! http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/autos/1006/gallery.james_bond_car/index.html
Down in a hole in Guatemala: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/01/storm-agatha-hole-guatemala
Intriguing question: what will you say if SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch fails? http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1636/1
Interesting NASA spinoff…long-duration underwear: http://online.wsj.com/video/not-quite-rocket-science-2-week-underwear/E670662E-7041-42D3-8FE1-549FFB808FC2.html
Effects of oil spill on wetlands: http://www.sciencecheerleader.com/2010/05/brief-review-effects-of-oil-on-wetlands/
Web 2.0 at the Department of Defense: http://www.sciencecheerleader.com/2010/05/gov-2-0-emerges-at-the-department-of-defense/
Real-life version of Minority Report’s user interface: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/01/real-life-version-of.html
Sony has developed a device that sends Twitter postings for cats by monitoring their activities…at least until the cats figure out a way to remove the things (my guess): http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/01/sony-makes-tweeting.html
Mega projects under consideration in Japan. There was a time Americans thought ambitiously in this manner: http://pinktentacle.com/2010/06/futuristic-mega-projects-by-shimizu/
The Navy is testing a laser weapon: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/05/31/navy.death.ray.wired/
The Sunlight Foundation has announced the winners of the “Design for America” competition, which was developed to suggest cool things to do with the U.S. Government’s new “open data” feeds: http://sunlightlabs.com/blog/2010/design-america-winners/
There’s a new line of robot vacuum cleaners out there—I really need one of these! http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/01/msi-robot-vacuums-invade-computex-set-sights-on-roomba/
EA has come out with a hockey stick for the Wii: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/01/eas-nhl-slapshot-packs-gretzky-approved-wiimote-hockey-stick/
What sorts of space missions could we do if we had unlimited funding? Try this: http://gizmodo.com/5552488/we-could-get-to-neptune-and-back-in-5-years-for-a-mere-4-trillion
The 747-mounted SOFIA telescope has taken its first infrared pictures of Jupiter: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/flying-telescope-sofia-nasa-photos-100601.html
The U.S. Air Force had the first flight test of the X-51 Waverider aerospace craft, which is powered by a scramjet, flying up to Mach 5: http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/awst/2010/05/31/AW_05_31_2010_p27-230271.xml&headline=X-51A%20Team%20Eyes%20Results%20Of%20Scramjet%20Flight&channel=awst
Domestic Politics
Peggy Noonan, Mark Steyn, and Jerry Pournelle on Obama’s handling of the oil gusher: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704269204575270950789108846.html, http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/05/27/were-too-broke-to-be-this-stupid/, and http://www.jerrypournelle.com/view/2010/Q2/view624.html#Friday
The Dow dropped 112 points on word that Attorney General Holder is going to start criminal investigations into the BP oil gusher in the Gulf: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9G2N1M00&show_article=1
Foreign Affairs
Iran has enough fissionable material to make two nuclear weapons: http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=177064
Euro hits a new low: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100601/D9G2FC8O4.html
Canada is reassessing its healthcare model: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100531/hl_nm/us_health_3
So while I was out of town for the weekend, the Israeli Defense Forces intercepted aid ships heading for the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip because they were bringing in weapons. The activists who weren’t killed in the raid are to be deported. http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177178
Culture
A stop-motion animation video game. Cool! http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/01/video-alex-varaneses.html
A man repeatedly called 911 after his mother took his beer. Brilliant. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/01/1657707/pasco-man-charged-after-911-call.html
A psychology professor has written a paper on why “self-experimentation” is unusually effective. Uh, yeah, BUT… http://sethroberts.net/articles/2010%2520The%2520unreasonable%2520effectiveness%2520of%2520my%2520self-experimentation.pdf
So we’ve had it wrong all these years: they’re not mad scientists, they’re mad engineers! http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/01/the-dark-side-of-eng.html
For Doc: a Lovecraftian art exhibition… http://observatoryroom.org/2010/05/26/exhibition-opening-a-love-craft/
SpongeBob Square Pants at age 50: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/31/spongebob-age-50.html
Was there really a need for this? Ewok karaoke: http://www.swtorstrategies.com/2010/05/may-schwartz-be-with-you-ewok-karaoke.html
Here’s something for aspiring SF writers to try: a virtual “write-a-thon.” http://www.theclarionfoundation.org/writeathon/wrtn-home.htm
Actually sorry to hear this: Al and Tipper Gore are separating after 40 years of marriage. Tipper made Gore a nice contrast to Bill Clinton. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-us-gore-separation,0,2616256.story
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Potpourri CXXXVI
Busy world out there...here's the small segment of it I could give my attention to today.
Not sure what you’d call this…maybe a clearing house for the most common/popular NASA Twitter feeds?
From Hu (I'll have more on this in a bit): NASA and Congress slog toward a compromise on the 2011 budget.
Are scramjets the future of spaceflight?
Will the X-37 to be used for spying?
A Japanese solar sail mission will be launched this week. Cool!
Just because the U.S. President doesn’t want to go to the moon doesn’t mean India doesn’t. Boeing is in talks with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to help them with a lunar mission. Sigh. Maybe I'd like it in Bangalore. At least there's not much chance of snow and I know they're serious about going to the moon there.
Senator Shelby (R-AL) has inserted language into an Afghanistan emergency spending bill that would prevent changes or cancellations to the Constellation Program. I appreciate the notion, but I still don’t understand why that wouldn’t or shouldn’t be done on a bill dealing with NASA, not the Defense Department. One thing at a time, ya know?
NASA has converted Space Shuttle flight simulator hardware into an educational tool for students.
Well, now I know where my friend George Whitesides went: he's now CEO of Virgin Galactic. Far out.
My buddy Gwen was at Arlington National Cemetary to visit the grave of her father and found the grave of a Medal of Honor recipient who shared the same last name as her husband. While I don't believe he's directly related to Tim, here's the citation for the gentleman of the grave Gwen observed.
This year's Nebula Award winners have been announced. Congrats. Wish to heck I could write that well.
Here's a short study in cognitive biases because sometimes such things interest me.
There was a Star Wars concert in Orlando last week--good timing for the Shuttle launch.
An extended set of TED talks from D2 on cancer prevention:
Woody Allen thinks Obama should be made dictator for awhile and Republicans should “get out of his way.” Yikes. And FWIW, dude: Republicans cannot stop anything Obama does. They don’t have the votes.
Doubleplusungood: Tar balls have been found off the coast of Key West.
Convinced the end is near? You can always buy a spot in a bunker somewhere.
A female lawyer in France got offended at another woman wearing a burqa and tore it off.
A review is questioning the effectiveness of missile defense.
This amused me: the President signed the Press Freedom Act and then refused to take questions from the press. Just because you have the freedom to ask questions doesn’t mean I have to answer them, pal.
A Democratic candidate for Senator in Connecticut has lied about serving in Vietnam. Dude: if you’re gonna lie about something, try not lying about something that is easily checked: you know, like Bush’s National Guard record or Obama’s place of birth (I kid).
For that seriously geeky wedding party: an AT-AT wedding cake.
But what denomination is it? A humanoid robot presided over a Japanese wedding.
I have this app, but have never used it: Shazam has been voted Gizmodo’s favorite iPhone app. My problem with it? I usually want to know the name of a song while I’m driving!
You can get the Joker added to your iPad. You know: if you really want to.
The Euro has fallen to a new low.
Mark Cuban on making money on the internet and why print is not dead.
Social networking and shopping are converging? Yes.
Hotmail is making some improvements to keep up with other web mail services. About bloody time! I’ve been using Hotmail since 1997. I’m due for an upgrade!
I just found this article title amusing: Facebook and Shutterfly are Now In a Relationship.
Kids are teaching about time travel on YouTube. They're learning about this via a service called Ignition Tutoring.
From Doc: the U.S. Air Force is doing serious work in testing "fly-back" rocket boosters. About time someone did it. Fly-back units were originally considered for the Space Shuttle, back when they wanted it to be a fully reusable system.
I'm shocked, shocked...too much TV leads to poor school performance. Jeez, they knew this when I was a kid! Have they heard that the Pope is Catholic? That bears...never mind.
The Obama policy presents a conundrum for conservatives according to Jeff Foust and an op-ed in the Orange County Register. The conundrum being that conservatives generally oppose President Obama's spending policies, often going so far as to call them socialist, but here is one situation where he is trying to reduce the government role (Constellation) and actually trying to privatize (by spending more money on commercial launches to the International Space Station)--a standard plank in the GOP platform. However, I don't see this as a problem for conservatives. If space exploration is looked at as an extension of a strong national defense (a standard part of the conservative platforms of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Regan), which it is, then it is fine as a government expenditure. Paradoxically, an increase in government spending on space--Constellation and COTS--would increase the number of U.S. commercial providers of launch services and keep NASA and U.S. space technologies on the cutting edge by continuing the nation's commitment to exploration of other worlds. Crazy as this sounds, if Obama's policy was passed as is but added Constellation, I'd have no problem with it whatsoever. So sayeth this paleocon and "space moderate."
What would make NASA "cool again?" Consider this blog by my fellow space blogger Nick Skytland.
With the recent news of five soldiers getting killed in Afghanistan, this video from Father Dan of joyous family members greeting returning veterans warms the heart.
From Berin: an event called "Can Government Save the Press?" Reminds me of a quip by Ronald Reagan regarding government thinking: "If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it."
And I think that'll about do for this evening. Stay tuned, sports fans. It's an interesting world out there. You never know what we're going to hear next.
Busy world out there...here's the small segment of it I could give my attention to today.
Not sure what you’d call this…maybe a clearing house for the most common/popular NASA Twitter feeds?
From Hu (I'll have more on this in a bit): NASA and Congress slog toward a compromise on the 2011 budget.
Are scramjets the future of spaceflight?
Will the X-37 to be used for spying?
A Japanese solar sail mission will be launched this week. Cool!
Just because the U.S. President doesn’t want to go to the moon doesn’t mean India doesn’t. Boeing is in talks with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to help them with a lunar mission. Sigh. Maybe I'd like it in Bangalore. At least there's not much chance of snow and I know they're serious about going to the moon there.
Senator Shelby (R-AL) has inserted language into an Afghanistan emergency spending bill that would prevent changes or cancellations to the Constellation Program. I appreciate the notion, but I still don’t understand why that wouldn’t or shouldn’t be done on a bill dealing with NASA, not the Defense Department. One thing at a time, ya know?
NASA has converted Space Shuttle flight simulator hardware into an educational tool for students.
Well, now I know where my friend George Whitesides went: he's now CEO of Virgin Galactic. Far out.
My buddy Gwen was at Arlington National Cemetary to visit the grave of her father and found the grave of a Medal of Honor recipient who shared the same last name as her husband. While I don't believe he's directly related to Tim, here's the citation for the gentleman of the grave Gwen observed.
This year's Nebula Award winners have been announced. Congrats. Wish to heck I could write that well.
Here's a short study in cognitive biases because sometimes such things interest me.
There was a Star Wars concert in Orlando last week--good timing for the Shuttle launch.
An extended set of TED talks from D2 on cancer prevention:
I found this TED TALK by Dr. William Li (http://www.angio.org/) very insightful and helpful. It will only take about 20:00 of your time. http://www.ted.com/talks/william_li.htmlSarah from Across the Pond asked me what was going on with my job. And since I can't explain the status of my job these days without explaining the budgeting process of the U.S. federal government, I thought I'd just repeat what I wrote here:
The cancer &/or obesity you prevent may be your own - or that of someone you love.
Also, the attached tiff file is a screenshot of the list of AA foods he discusses broadly. It can also be found at: blog.ted.com/2010/02/dr_william_lis.php
Please feel free to share this info with people you know who might be interested. Don't assume I sent it to them. If they already received it, they can delete it. If they receive it several times, maybe there's a message there...
If you haven't yet discovered TED TALKS, you are missing some pretty mind-blowing and mind-expanding experiences!
D2
PS - I discovered some research re: Low Dose Naltrexone as a cancer-preventative, as well as some interesting drug trials in the management of certain inflammatory and immune-system diseases. This opiod-blocker drug is usually Rx'd for managing addictions, of alcohol or certain other opiods, but has show efficacy in LD regimens with cancer, pre-cancerous conditions, HIV, etc. It might be something to talk with your Doc about.
See: www.lowdosenaltrexone.org
It's not so much that the President hasn't come to a decision. I don't know how the budget/parliamentary process works in the UK, but here the Pres. submits a proposal for the overall federal budget, then it goes through what's called a "pass-back," where some other part of the government reviews the proposal and kicks it back to the President's people to redo it (usually with guidance on what to cut). And after that, the budget is reviewed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. Both houses must write a budget law, and those laws have to match. If they don't, they have to go into a conference committee to sort out the differences. Once that happens, the finalized budgets are voted on and sent to the President for a signature.And speaking of folks Across the Pond, I got this YouTube video link from Father Dan: a dear 80-year-old Scottish great-grandmother who just belted out "No Regrets" to the delight of Simon Cowell and the rest of the "Britain's Got Talent" audience. Just marvelous.
So far, we're still in the pass-back and Congressional review portion of the process. The Congress hasn't passed a budget on time (October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year) in a few years, so they'll most likely pass what's called a "continuing resolution (CR)," where they pass a budget for part of the year to keep basic services going and civil servants paid until a final budget can be passed. A CR is usually passed at the same spending level as the previous year, and the agencies receiving a CR are told to continue "business as usual" (no new program directions) until a new budget is passed. Sometimes a CR will last for a whole year. That would be fine by me, because that would mean the Constellation Program gets a reprieve for another year. But the Obama administration is still intent on killing Constellation and redirecting the money to other NASA activities, like environmental monitoring or encouraging U.S. private sector companies to build rockets to launch crew and cargo to the International Space Station. I'm not particularly worried about where I'll end up--NASA always needs good tech writers--but for right now the only thing I know for sure is that I'm good through the end of the fiscal year or whenever Congress finally passes the 2011 budget, which would be anywhere from September 30 to February 1. After that, well, I might be writing for something or someone very different. Stay tuned.
Woody Allen thinks Obama should be made dictator for awhile and Republicans should “get out of his way.” Yikes. And FWIW, dude: Republicans cannot stop anything Obama does. They don’t have the votes.
Doubleplusungood: Tar balls have been found off the coast of Key West.
Convinced the end is near? You can always buy a spot in a bunker somewhere.
A female lawyer in France got offended at another woman wearing a burqa and tore it off.
A review is questioning the effectiveness of missile defense.
This amused me: the President signed the Press Freedom Act and then refused to take questions from the press. Just because you have the freedom to ask questions doesn’t mean I have to answer them, pal.
A Democratic candidate for Senator in Connecticut has lied about serving in Vietnam. Dude: if you’re gonna lie about something, try not lying about something that is easily checked: you know, like Bush’s National Guard record or Obama’s place of birth (I kid).
For that seriously geeky wedding party: an AT-AT wedding cake.
But what denomination is it? A humanoid robot presided over a Japanese wedding.
I have this app, but have never used it: Shazam has been voted Gizmodo’s favorite iPhone app. My problem with it? I usually want to know the name of a song while I’m driving!
You can get the Joker added to your iPad. You know: if you really want to.
The Euro has fallen to a new low.
Mark Cuban on making money on the internet and why print is not dead.
Social networking and shopping are converging? Yes.
Hotmail is making some improvements to keep up with other web mail services. About bloody time! I’ve been using Hotmail since 1997. I’m due for an upgrade!
I just found this article title amusing: Facebook and Shutterfly are Now In a Relationship.
Kids are teaching about time travel on YouTube. They're learning about this via a service called Ignition Tutoring.
From Doc: the U.S. Air Force is doing serious work in testing "fly-back" rocket boosters. About time someone did it. Fly-back units were originally considered for the Space Shuttle, back when they wanted it to be a fully reusable system.
I'm shocked, shocked...too much TV leads to poor school performance. Jeez, they knew this when I was a kid! Have they heard that the Pope is Catholic? That bears...never mind.
The Obama policy presents a conundrum for conservatives according to Jeff Foust and an op-ed in the Orange County Register. The conundrum being that conservatives generally oppose President Obama's spending policies, often going so far as to call them socialist, but here is one situation where he is trying to reduce the government role (Constellation) and actually trying to privatize (by spending more money on commercial launches to the International Space Station)--a standard plank in the GOP platform. However, I don't see this as a problem for conservatives. If space exploration is looked at as an extension of a strong national defense (a standard part of the conservative platforms of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Regan), which it is, then it is fine as a government expenditure. Paradoxically, an increase in government spending on space--Constellation and COTS--would increase the number of U.S. commercial providers of launch services and keep NASA and U.S. space technologies on the cutting edge by continuing the nation's commitment to exploration of other worlds. Crazy as this sounds, if Obama's policy was passed as is but added Constellation, I'd have no problem with it whatsoever. So sayeth this paleocon and "space moderate."
What would make NASA "cool again?" Consider this blog by my fellow space blogger Nick Skytland.
With the recent news of five soldiers getting killed in Afghanistan, this video from Father Dan of joyous family members greeting returning veterans warms the heart.
From Berin: an event called "Can Government Save the Press?" Reminds me of a quip by Ronald Reagan regarding government thinking: "If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it."
And I think that'll about do for this evening. Stay tuned, sports fans. It's an interesting world out there. You never know what we're going to hear next.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Potpourri, Petroleum, and Prognostication CXXXV
Smallish pile of stuff this evening, but the weather outside is iffy and I've got new clothes to wash, so let's get to it, shall we?
I've got a few things about the ongoing situation in the Gulf of Mexico. First, from (and by) D2: a powerful essay about the short- and long-term impacts of the gusher. Dede and I agree on practically zilch when it comes to politics (except for the need for civility and informed debate); but when it comes to the ocean, she knows her stuff. If she says it's catastrophic, I believe her. And we also both agree on the need for cleaner energy sources (I favor nuclear and space-based solar power). Not sure I'm 100% behind a ban on offshore drilling, but she's also provided a link petitioning the President to do so. The Down Under Defense Expert (DUDE) directed me to a site that chronicles how this whole mess got started. And I'm repeating this one because it still bears thinking about and because it might be worth a few thousand dollars to whoever comes up with a solution...Dar has added a crowdsourcing opportunity on Science for Citizens looking for methods of mitigating this mess, as well as a blog about this issue. Put your thinking caps on!
Not to say this guy is overexposed, but jeez, Buzz. First Dancing with the Stars, now wrestling?
Speaking of space-based solar power, here's a link to The Futures Channel's stories on space stuff, including Ares and SBSP.
This one has been sitting in my blog folder for awhile, so I'll just put it out there to clear the deck. It's a forwarded email from Father Dan on trends to watch for in the future. My comments in bold.
1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.
The last time I went to the USPS for anything was probably the cheerless office in the basement of Building 4200 at Marshall Space Flight Center. Before that, it was a few years ago when I needed a passport photo done. It looked awful, as such things usually do, but the jerk running the camera wouldn't allow one do-over and made it quite clear that I could take it or leave it. Nice attitude. At least the folks at the UPS Store make an effort at being nice.
2. The Cheque. Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.
There are a few things I still write checks for, including rent, church offerings, and some bills. Not all companies or organizations take cash or automatic bill paying. (I'm trying to imagine churches passing around a debit card reader, and the mind reels!)
3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.
Despite several attempts, my former newspaper reporter buddy Martin has yet to convince me that "serious" journalism will die once all dead-tree newspapers have died. I've tried several times to subscribe to a regular newspaper--and once even subscribed to the Wall Street Journal on my Kindle--all to no avail. The amount of time I spent actually reading the darn things never justified the expenditure involved. At least with the WSJ, I didn't have a pile of inky paper piling up by my door. I just don't have the time. I get quite a good fill of news from other sources, thanks.
4. The Book. You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music from iTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.
The death of the dead-tree book might hurt quite a bit more than the newspaper. After all, I actually read those. I read more books in a year than newspapers (at least one a month). Books never need recharging, the work when the power goes out, and unless you drop it in a puddle or set it on fire, the words will still be there on the page if you come back to it weeks or months later. They won't get deleted if someone's server is having a bad day.
5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they're always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.
Gave up my land line in 2004 because I couldn't afford a cell phone and a land line at Northern Virginia prices. The only downside to cell phones is that if someone calls you, they expect you to answer, no matter what. It's like the machines have conditioned us to their needs, not vice versa. There are two ways for privacy freaks like me to avoid this problem:
I have done both.
6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates simply self-destruction. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit.
I'm not sure I agree with this one 100 percent. YouTube and MySpace have both allowed bands to reach unprecedently large audiences simply by putting their stuff out there. One thing I've noticed with my iPhone in particular, however, is that the multi-song album might die off pretty soon. Let's face it: you've got to be a serious fan of the artist before you'll take the time and money to buy every song of theirs; otherwise, if you're like most of middle America, you'll download the songs of theirs that you like...most likely what's played on the radio, right? And what iTunes won't do, satellite radio will. I think this essay is right: conglomerates will eventually do themselves in. However, another casualty of satellite radio would be local radio, which I'd find unfortunate; unlike my local newspaper, I do pay attention to local radio stations.
7. The "Things" That You Own. Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider. In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, rab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.
I've heard about this phenomenon, and don't really have a problem with it. Google and Amazon are not "resident" on my PC unless I download their toolbars, and Google updates their software daily. This is better than the irregular "patches" you have to download from Microsoft, and problems, while more widespread, are more likely to get addressed in real time, unlike, say, Vista, which took months of customer complaints before it was finally replaced. That said, if the server does go down, you're hosed on your ability to get anything done. The only "comfort" you have is that there will be several million people all in the same boat, including your customer(s).
8. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7 "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again.
The specific example they cite--localized purchasing--is a tradeoff: convenience vs. privacy of one's transactions. One good reason to get off of Facebook is that they're making it increasingly difficult for you to opt out of their relentless marketing database. My biggest gripe is with the cell phone (see above), and there are still ways around that...at least until they mandate that chip in your head.
All we will have that can't be changed are memories.
From reading this, one might assume I'm not terribly sentimental or nostalgic about the items above, and one would assume correctly. There are some cultural trends I'm watching very closely that fill me with dismay, and these might be restrained or abetted by the technologies we develop. But technology is not neutral. Neither is education. We will need both if we're going to improve the state of our world. For the moment, it's the only one we've got.
Smallish pile of stuff this evening, but the weather outside is iffy and I've got new clothes to wash, so let's get to it, shall we?
I've got a few things about the ongoing situation in the Gulf of Mexico. First, from (and by) D2: a powerful essay about the short- and long-term impacts of the gusher. Dede and I agree on practically zilch when it comes to politics (except for the need for civility and informed debate); but when it comes to the ocean, she knows her stuff. If she says it's catastrophic, I believe her. And we also both agree on the need for cleaner energy sources (I favor nuclear and space-based solar power). Not sure I'm 100% behind a ban on offshore drilling, but she's also provided a link petitioning the President to do so. The Down Under Defense Expert (DUDE) directed me to a site that chronicles how this whole mess got started. And I'm repeating this one because it still bears thinking about and because it might be worth a few thousand dollars to whoever comes up with a solution...Dar has added a crowdsourcing opportunity on Science for Citizens looking for methods of mitigating this mess, as well as a blog about this issue. Put your thinking caps on!
Not to say this guy is overexposed, but jeez, Buzz. First Dancing with the Stars, now wrestling?
Speaking of space-based solar power, here's a link to The Futures Channel's stories on space stuff, including Ares and SBSP.
*
This one has been sitting in my blog folder for awhile, so I'll just put it out there to clear the deck. It's a forwarded email from Father Dan on trends to watch for in the future. My comments in bold.
1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.
The last time I went to the USPS for anything was probably the cheerless office in the basement of Building 4200 at Marshall Space Flight Center. Before that, it was a few years ago when I needed a passport photo done. It looked awful, as such things usually do, but the jerk running the camera wouldn't allow one do-over and made it quite clear that I could take it or leave it. Nice attitude. At least the folks at the UPS Store make an effort at being nice.
2. The Cheque. Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.
There are a few things I still write checks for, including rent, church offerings, and some bills. Not all companies or organizations take cash or automatic bill paying. (I'm trying to imagine churches passing around a debit card reader, and the mind reels!)
3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.
Despite several attempts, my former newspaper reporter buddy Martin has yet to convince me that "serious" journalism will die once all dead-tree newspapers have died. I've tried several times to subscribe to a regular newspaper--and once even subscribed to the Wall Street Journal on my Kindle--all to no avail. The amount of time I spent actually reading the darn things never justified the expenditure involved. At least with the WSJ, I didn't have a pile of inky paper piling up by my door. I just don't have the time. I get quite a good fill of news from other sources, thanks.
4. The Book. You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music from iTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.
The death of the dead-tree book might hurt quite a bit more than the newspaper. After all, I actually read those. I read more books in a year than newspapers (at least one a month). Books never need recharging, the work when the power goes out, and unless you drop it in a puddle or set it on fire, the words will still be there on the page if you come back to it weeks or months later. They won't get deleted if someone's server is having a bad day.
5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they're always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.
Gave up my land line in 2004 because I couldn't afford a cell phone and a land line at Northern Virginia prices. The only downside to cell phones is that if someone calls you, they expect you to answer, no matter what. It's like the machines have conditioned us to their needs, not vice versa. There are two ways for privacy freaks like me to avoid this problem:
I have done both.
6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates simply self-destruction. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit.
I'm not sure I agree with this one 100 percent. YouTube and MySpace have both allowed bands to reach unprecedently large audiences simply by putting their stuff out there. One thing I've noticed with my iPhone in particular, however, is that the multi-song album might die off pretty soon. Let's face it: you've got to be a serious fan of the artist before you'll take the time and money to buy every song of theirs; otherwise, if you're like most of middle America, you'll download the songs of theirs that you like...most likely what's played on the radio, right? And what iTunes won't do, satellite radio will. I think this essay is right: conglomerates will eventually do themselves in. However, another casualty of satellite radio would be local radio, which I'd find unfortunate; unlike my local newspaper, I do pay attention to local radio stations.
7. The "Things" That You Own. Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider. In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, rab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.
I've heard about this phenomenon, and don't really have a problem with it. Google and Amazon are not "resident" on my PC unless I download their toolbars, and Google updates their software daily. This is better than the irregular "patches" you have to download from Microsoft, and problems, while more widespread, are more likely to get addressed in real time, unlike, say, Vista, which took months of customer complaints before it was finally replaced. That said, if the server does go down, you're hosed on your ability to get anything done. The only "comfort" you have is that there will be several million people all in the same boat, including your customer(s).
8. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7 "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again.
The specific example they cite--localized purchasing--is a tradeoff: convenience vs. privacy of one's transactions. One good reason to get off of Facebook is that they're making it increasingly difficult for you to opt out of their relentless marketing database. My biggest gripe is with the cell phone (see above), and there are still ways around that...at least until they mandate that chip in your head.
All we will have that can't be changed are memories.
From reading this, one might assume I'm not terribly sentimental or nostalgic about the items above, and one would assume correctly. There are some cultural trends I'm watching very closely that fill me with dismay, and these might be restrained or abetted by the technologies we develop. But technology is not neutral. Neither is education. We will need both if we're going to improve the state of our world. For the moment, it's the only one we've got.
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