Category Archives: Uncategorized

Why exploring space is so important. And a bunch of stuff about the Copernican formula.

I like that he’s so precise about the 46 years part. And this quote:

If it’s true that civilizations normally go extinct because they get stuck on their home planets, then the odds are against us, but there’s nothing inevitable about the Copernican Principle.

That’s a pretty big if. If only the Romans and Persians and Assyrians and Phoenicians and Hittites had explored space more, they might have fared better.

The dying honeybee has been dying for at least a decade now.

It’s a slow news day, so I choose to inflict you with the sad details of my life.

At the gym this morning. Doing my thing, I walk downstairs to put away the medicine ball and go do some pullups. Unfortunately there’s one more step than I think there is. My hands were full, so I couldn’t grab the handrail. One second I’m walking along, the next I’m on the floor clutching my ankle. I don’t think it’s too bad, really. I can walk on it, after all.

And right now I’m in need of some caffeine, and other stuff, yet unwilling to walk hobble downstairs to do something about it.

It’s a list of 101 Earth facts. Obviously no editor is going to read that whole thing. Check out #78.

Making real life more like a video game. It ups your dorkiness count, but if you contemplate something like this, it was probably pretty high to begin with.

Sadkermit. (Not safe for happy childhood memories)

I’ll get to it later.

As the time approaches to spend time at the “beach” reading, as opposed to spending time in the basement or living room reading, I give you my summer reading list:

Europe: A History by Norman Davies. Cause everyone should learn stuff, even in the summer. Plus it’s a huge book that will impress all the folks at the beach.

1632 by Eric Flint. Actually, I finished this already. It was okay. Not as good as I was hoping, but not horrible.

Some Honor Harrington by David Weber. I’ve read the first two and I can’t wait to read more. The Short Victorious War is next and no doubt it will quickly be followed by Field of Dishonor. I just wish there was an omnibus edition. If the series doesn’t nose-dive and my money holds out I’ll get through the whole series.

Sunrise Alley by Catherine Asaro.

I also plan to re-read Wizard’s First Rule.

Yep, not a lot of deep thinking, but a lot of hard sci-fi, which I think counts as math and science.

If you want to feel better about the world in general, go read this Heinlein piece.

Would Ike like the iPhone?

The Get Smart trailer.

I admit I laughed, but I still hold out no hope for this movie.

Tim Blair on the Christian sectarian violence that has broken out over the Pope’s recent comments.

So far we’ve torched four Catholic schools, an effigy of Archbishop Daniel Mannix, and a Sopranos DVD. The Orthodoxers briefly captured Peter Costello, but had to let him go when they found out he was some kind of Baptist.

Dissing Muslims and immigration in one little comment.

Of course you do. Driving to the gym this morning, 5:45am, gas at the cheap Exxon $2.74. Darn, I thought, yesterday it was $2.72. That’s what I get for procrastinating. I’ll get gas on my way home.

Go to the gym. On my way home, 6:45am, stop at the same cheap Exxon. Gas is now $2.77.

Forget the whole how does the price of gas go up overnight. How does it go up in the space of an hour? Waiting that extra 25 hours cost me 50 cents. There’s a life lesson in there somewhere.

Would you rather burn up or be covered in raw sewage? Hmmm.

Burdett: “We heard the man in there screaming, so we waited for the police to get there, and police showed up. We asked permission to put the fire out, with the pump truck, and they said ‘Go ahead, and do that’ so we backed the pump truck over there, and put the fire out.”

Clever outdoor lights aren’t going to fool me. I keep my eyes on anything that declares it isn’t a bomb.

I don’t think you get to be a mastermind unless you succeed at at least one of your nefarious plans. Sure, James Bond defeated some masterminds, but they had previously accomplished something evil, making them masterminds.

And remember kids, one day you’ll wish you paid attention to all that stuff you think is useless to learn in school.

A roundup of what all the cool people said about Al Gore Live.

I would like to report that I am enjoying the whole Netflix “Watch It Now” thing. It’s really nice when you don’t want to wait three days for something you’re not convinced is worth it or you’re bored waiting for your next envelope.

A minor flaw is that I have to use Internet Explorer, which means I can’t watch it on my Ubuntu laptop. But other than that, it’s great. It might not quite be DVD quality, but it hasn’t glitched once in the three movies I’ve watched and the quality is good enough not to be distracting.

Big thumbs up to Netflix.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation….

Stuff like this is why even the little I know about quantum mechanics trips me out.

Drawing on the bizarre principles of quantum mechanics, he suggests that human beings — through the sheer act of observation — may have helped shape the laws of physics billions of years ago.

AllofMP3.com is gone.

Declaration of Independence quiz.

I admit a couple of those were lucky guesses. And I realized that I rely far too much on the musical 1776 for my knowledge of the event. But if a duet between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson can’t get historical facts to stick in your head, what can?

Humans use 25% of the energy stored by plants.

When you’re at the top of the food chain, you get to do stuff like this. The other species should just try harder and evolve faster if they want in on it.

Oddly enough, it’s from San Fransisco.

This country was founded on blowing stuff up, and 231 years later it continues to be the thing that we do best. And yet in the past few decades, almost every Bay Area municipality has banned the use of fireworks within city limits. It’s like we don’t even want to be Americans anymore.

I see two choices: Either we all start learning to speak French, or we bring the Bay Area back to the stocked-with-fireworks glory that we all enjoyed in the 1970s and 1980s.

Read the whole thing. Of course, last night I saw some great stuff my neighbors sent up, and it’s only going to get better, because I don’t live in San Fransisco. My cats didn’t appreciate it, but I did.

Fred Saberhagan, author of the decent Berserker series, among other things, may or may not be dead.

Scalzi is on the case. I enjoyed his Old Man’s War immensely.

Uganda bans the use of plastic bags because they’re polluting the place. Now, the sensible thing to do would be to improve garbage services instead of everyone just piling their trash on the sides of the roads, but banning the bags is, no doubt, cheaper.

Environmentalists say discarded bags, which pile up on roadsides and unused land, spread disease and hurt wildlife.

In Uganda, the only exception is the scavenging Marabou storks who thrive on the bags.

Scariest. birds. evar.

London cops impounded second car bomb before they noticed.

Farfour was beaten to death in his final TV episode. Good times.

via Zak

Conservatives win the week.

The red-heads in Britian are rising up and, um, other empowering words here, and singing.

The picture is unrelated, but funny.

Mark Steyn goes to town on the Senate. Beautiful.

Why the record industry is tanking. Music is doing fine though, don’t worry.

NASA says anyone can stay at the International Space Station free. Now all I need is a ride.

Red vs. Blue is done. I just couldn’t get into it. Not that funny, really.

I have no idea if this is good or bad, but the FTC shot down Net Neutrality.

A zorse. This is why I’m against genetic modification.

*not actually against genetic modification. Bring on the wacky corn.

Professor lives off of coffee, fruit juice, and wine. Even assuming he’s not cheating, why would you do that?

Netflix just lowered their prices and gave me free instant viewing hours, which basically means I can watch 7 movies a month on my computer. There does seem to be a limited selection, but I can’t wait to see if it works.

Newscaster refuses to lead with the Paris Hilton story.

I was thirty seconds short of making it through. Ah-een. Good luck getting that out of my head today.

The ATM is 40 years old. Shouldn’t we have wireless implants controlled by thought by now?

Where I come from, this is bad. (Danger: link seizure inducing).

Boing Boing feels differently.

In the guys defense, 500 meters is over a quarter mile. That’s a long sprint when you’re being chased.

I’ve heard of flavoring water with cucumber and mint, but cucumber Pepsi? I remain skeptical. Of course, I’ve seen corn and green beans in ice cream, so I guess this isn’t too far fetched.

Should be today, probably around 12:50-ish. Unless they delay, of course.

UPDATE: Ah, scenic desert brush. Landing at Edwards at 12:40-something…

UPDATE: Tada! And the audio loops they had going were hot!

Clinton and Boxer want to fix talk radio. With laws. It’s just loose talk but still, the mindset is just wrong.

Clinton/Boxer’s spokespeople deny it.

To go along with the Chinese pet food and deadly toy scares, the Chinese car crash test results.

Dramatic chipmunk.

We’ve got to save Canada!

Solar scientists predict that, by 2020, the sun will be starting into its weakest Schwabe solar cycle of the past two centuries, likely leading to unusually cool conditions on Earth. Beginning to plan for adaptation to such a cool period, one which may continue well beyond one 11-year cycle, as did the Little Ice Age, should be a priority for governments. It is global cooling, not warming, that is the major climate threat to the world, especially Canada. As a country at the northern limit to agriculture in the world, it would take very little cooling to destroy much of our food crops, while a warming would only require that we adopt farming techniques practiced to the south of us.

Maybe the warming and the cooling will balance each other out.

The National Review on health insurance:

People worry that if they switch jobs, they will lose their health insurance. They worry that their company will cut back on health benefits. Universal coverage is not necessary to address these worries. Making it possible for individuals to own their health-insurance policies themselves, rather than getting them through their companies, would solve the problem. It would also reduce the political momentum behind socialized medicine.

Here’s the one flaw in the plan. If my employer doesn’t have to provide health insurance anymore, do you really think they’re going to let me see the difference? No, they’re going to keep that money and I’m stuck trying to figure out how to pay another ridiculously expensive bill every month.

Not that I think government mandated health care is the answer. I understand that a plumber charges $75.00/hour so $60.00 for a doctor visit isn’t unreasonable, but there has to be some way to make it more affordable. We all know that when it rains, it pours so it’s never just a doctor visit. It’s a visit, some tests, more visits and finally, you have ebola, nice knowing you. Meanwhile you aren’t making any money because you can’t get to work because you’re bleeding out every orifice.

I have had jobs where I hated holidays because they were all unpaid and that meant a full day (or two!) of no pay, which meant I was short that much more money that month. Money I couldn’t afford to be short if I wanted to keep eating and driving and living under a roof. What I’m trying to say is you can’t just shove it out on the individual, you have to make it more affordable, somehow. Beats me how, I don’t think the government footing the bill is the answer, but one of those brain trusts will have to figure that part out.

Excessive use of bad posture while computing leads to physical troubles.

The chair thing is so true. Someone donated hideously ugly, but extremely nice, task chairs to us and even 8 years later, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Well, a jet pack, I would trade it for a jet pack.

That is all.

I don’t speak Russian and I’m not European but otherwise, 17 months in a tiny chamber with 5 other people sounds like a great time.

Because when I think Levi’s, I think cellphones.

New York’s regulations designed to make fast food restaurants tell you how bad what you’re eating is for you not only don’t, they take what information you could get away.

Lower expectations until you get rewarded for mediocrity.

Isaac Newton figured that the world would end in 2060 at the earliest. Guess I won’t max out my credit cards then.

Rocket packs are available. It needs some work though. 33 seconds isn’t going to get me to work.

The first female Muslim Episcopalian priest. From my, and everyone else’s, understanding they’re pretty much mutually exclusive, but why let that stop you?

Learn it. Love it. Live it.

Otherwise stuff like this happens.

It’s amazing what a little people skills and self-confidence can do.

Scientists admit the human genome is more complicated than they thought.

The collaboration of researchers, known as the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements — or ENCODE — consortium, looked at roughly 1 percent of the entire human genome, concluding that the 95 percent of the genome previously believed to be superfluous actually plays a major role in regulating how DNA expresses itself.

Denmark leads the way in making it easier on the non-early risers.

That’s how you steal a painting. The best part is the picture of the shocked, shocked museum director.

Speaking of which, Ocean’s 13 is coming out soon, isn’t it. Sweet.

A beautiful shuttle launch, and docking, something was bound to go wrong. How do you crash three computers at the same time so they won’t boot? What are the odds of the power supplies going out on all of them at the same time?

It’s always the power supply. Which takes out the motherboard, the chip or the RAM on its way down. Or some combination of them. Or all three. Trust me.

Who wants a banana flavored Twinkie? Not me.

Now banana twinkies may have been huge in the 1930s but we were suffering from the Great Depression then. Hardly a time of culinary excellence. The switch to vanilla is just another thing we can thank the Greatest Generation and their war for.

I upgraded iTunes. I don’t keep my library in the default place. Now it wants me to got through and individually tell it where each song is. How much fun is that!

The TB guy and his family become bigger jerks the more we hear.

Quantum entanglement over a distance of 90 miles. Trippy.

Russell Kirk on 10 principles conservatives believe.

“For God’s sake, please stop the aid!”

SPIEGEL: Would Africa actually be able to solve these problems on its own?

Shikwati: Of course. Hunger should not be a problem in most of the countries south of the Sahara. In addition, there are vast natural resources: oil, gold, diamonds. Africa is always only portrayed as a continent of suffering, but most figures are vastly exaggerated. In the industrial nations, there’s a sense that Africa would go under without development aid. But believe me, Africa existed before you Europeans came along. And we didn’t do all that poorly either.

People vs. Doctrine. If your beliefs are killing people, it’s time to look at them more closely and make sure that’s what you want to be doing.

Environmental leaders must join the 21st century, acknowledge the mistakes Carson made, and balance the hypothetical risks of DDT with the real and devastating consequences of malaria.

He also says:

Africa is determined to rise above the contemporary colonialism that keeps us impoverished. We expect strong leadership in G-8 countries to stop paying lip service to African self-determination and start supporting solutions that are already working.

You can feel that determination in Kampala. There’s an optimism in the city that reminded me of the Wild West. Or, at least, what I’ve read of the Wild West. I wasn’t actually there, you know.

In the north, especially in the IDP camps, not so much, they were all about when is someone going to do something for me, but then that’s what you get when you force people from their homes and tell them you’ll take care of them.

A good Sausage McMuffin with Egg is a joy forever.

I don’t let myself get one very often—once every few months normally—but when I do, it makes my day a little better.

Um, he’s upset, I guess.

But let me tell you, you Peruvian-hatted puritan apostles of grassy nihilism, the single hottest problem facing the planet is not global warming, but the viciously smug fundamentalist prohibitionists of the green movement. Those wholemealy-mouthed ecologists, who devoutly wish to reduce everyone else’s existence to a self-righteous nose-drip probity that never moves more than four miles from the communal yurt, never eats anything that hasn’t been grown in the communal dung and never thinks anything that isn’t collectively miserabilist, are going to destroy life as we know it faster than an equator of traffic jams, a continent of unlagged lofts and a squadron of circling jumbos.

Organic chicken more likely to have bacteria than unorganic chicken. Which, you know, makes sense.

Watch the shuttle launch.

France surrendered to the weather. Curses.

NASA acronym finder (NAF)

France unsurrenders. Yay.

Geez, it takes them like 10 minutes to get to orbit, but it takes me 6 hours to get across the country. Something’s not right.

John Edwards wants to use the Peace Corps to fight terrorism.

China has strategic pork reserves.

Inventor of Cheez Whiz and McDonald’s french fries dies.

Mark Steyn and Hugh Hewitt on Trent Lott’s remarks in the Senate. Wow.

Deja vu is just your brain jamming.

I’m not quite sure how going someplace that tens of people have gone before, as a tourist, beats out sailing in a little wooden ship some unknown distance to an unknown place or the first person that went to the moon in a ship that my calculator could out-compute, as an intrepid explorer, but it’s not my list.

This is why terrorists would be idiots to try the plane hijack thing again. There’s someone on the plane willing to stop you.

The incident on Northwest Airlines Flight 720 ended peacefully, but not before Hayden, a former Boston police deputy superintendent and former Lawrence police chief, and the retired Marine had handcuffed one man and stood guard over another until the plane touched down safely at Logan International Airport around 7:50 p.m.

I freely admit it is a hideous logo, far too reminiscent of the 80s, but really, epileptic fits?

Look at the one from 1948. Riff off of that. Presto, quality logo.

The storms blowing in from the west these last few days, ruining the start of our summer, Gore’s fault. Makes more sense now.

At your local Sonic. Thursday. Since ours just opened and the lines are ridiculous at the best of times, I think I’ll have to pass on this one.

Steven Wright deadpans questions on Washington Post.

The shoe is on the other foot now.

Red-headed family forced to move because of their hair color. We need an organization to stop this discrimination and get us some money for it.

This is why I need a new shuffle.

Finally the senator that secretly blocked the openness in government bill.

Free doughnuts at Krispy Kreme in honor of National Donut day, today. Not that they don’t give you a doughnut when you’re standing in line anyway….

Speaker’s father-in-law works for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, an agency spokesman said Thursday.

The father-in-law, Robert C. Cooksey, is a microbiologist who has conducted research on tuberculosis for the National Center for Infectious Diseases, according to a CDC biography posted on the agency’s Web site.

That’s quite a coincidence.

Stackable tetris shelves.

DARPA is planning to make cyborg moths for spy purposes. And for ruining terrorists woolens.

Top spammer arrested. I did notice my junk folder numbers were cut in half.

How long will the new Google Streetview last in the face of the wrath of the cats.

Local man has bomb in his pants.

When deputies arrived they called to Gable to come out of his trailer and when he did asked him about the bombs. Gable confirmed he had one in his pants so they handcuffed him and called in the Explosives Disposal Unit which removed the golf ball-sized bomb from his pants.

I don’t see how it’s anyone’s business what he has in his pants in the privacy of his own home.

I don’t know, I find a skillet across the face convinces my friends to eat what I cooked them.

Why are modern novels so depressing?

I have a theory that people that really have Something To Say are serious people doing serious work. At least in their minds.

Things went so well in 1986, they decided to try it again.

Fight Gettysburg your way.

Hugh Hewitt hosts Victor Davis Hanson talking about the history of war. In three parts.

The physics of souls and heaven. It’s all very Buddhist and Planck is mentioned often.

Podrunner. Pick a speed and run.

I don’t believe anyone fisks as well as Tim Blair.

I have no idea why, but I laughed through the entire thing.

Now anybody can get a gmail account. I’m no longer special on the internets.

This is no way to become president, except in Europe or developing countries.

Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined a broad economic vision Tuesday, saying it’s time to replace an “on your own” society with one based on shared responsibility and prosperity.

The socialist we all remember from before she started campaigning is back.

A week without screen-based activities. Do not want.

Cindy Sheenan has left the building.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt, 1910.

Somehow I doubt that not using trans-fats will improve the healthfulness of McDonald’s french fries.

You contest your ticket fine in court, you pay $70?

As of July 1, INDOT will collect the revenue from these fines which the law also boosts significantly. The first offense runs $300, the second $500 and the third $1000. Anyone contesting the fine in court faces an additional $70 fee.

Lolpresidents. Careful, it’s Fark, inappropriateness will abound.

The world is one big predetermined mess, so you might as well give up now. And obviously, if you disagree with me politically, you’re sick and need gene therapy.

Lutherans aren’t the real problem here.

Kohut pointed to one of the study’s key findings that only 29% of all respondents agreed that “bloody, random violence against infidels” was “always” or “frequently” justified, versus 56% who said such violence was “seldom” or “never” justified. The approval of violence rose slightly among younger Lutherans and when the hypothetical violence was targeted against Presbyterians, but still fell well short of a majority.

It’s those Presbyterians asking for it.

Read the whole thing, comic gems throughout.

I’m pretty sure cows being fed candy bars is appalling. It could be awesome. I can’t decide.

I’m pretty sure price gouging is already a crime in most states.

The legislation would give federal authorities the power during presidentially declared energy emergencies to investigate and prosecute anyone selling fuel at a price that is “unconscionably excessive” or “indicates the seller is taking unfair advantage unusual market conditions.”

Yay, more vague emergency powers. That’s a good idea.