I tried to catch some fog. I mist.
When chemists die, they barium.
Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.
A soldier who survived pepper spray and mustard gas is now a seasoned veteran.
I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop any time.
How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.
I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.
The girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore.
I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I can't put it down.
I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.
They told me I had Type A blood, but it was a Type O.
I dyslexic man walks into a bra...
PMS jokes aren't funny. Period.
Why were the Indians here first? They had reservations.
Class trip to the Coca-Cola factory. I hope there's no pop quiz.
Energizer bunny arrested: charged with battery.
I didn't like my beard. Then it grew on me.
How do you make holy water? You boil the hell out of it.
What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.
When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble.
What does a clock do when it's hungry? It goes back four seconds.
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me!
Broken pencils are pointless.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Great gobs of groaners...
Great gobs of groaners... Don't blame me! Reader and friend Simon M. passed them along...
Adventures with ObamaCare...
Adventures with ObamaCare... So yesterday I sat down with a local (to Utah) health insurance agent (Sam), and went over my options. Our timing on this is driven by both our move to Utah and the fact that my COBRA coverage (on my former employer's plan) is expiring in July. Sam went over several available plans, all of which were both considerably less expensive and better (lower deductibles and caps) than anything I found in California. He then advised me to create an account on the federal ObamaCare site (healthcare.gov), as that would be the simplest way for me to see all the plans available to me.
We went through the initial signup together. It was fairly straightforward: we entered my email address, a password, and provided the answers to three security questions. One of those questions asked for a date that was significant to me. We chose a date and entered it as "mm/dd" (with a numeric month and day supplied instead of the letters). Then the site told us that I'd be getting an email to validate my email address within 24 hours. Sam told me what would happen after that, we shook hands and I left.
Later that day, I did get the validation email. It had a link to click on to validate my email address. I clicked, and instantly got a screen telling me that the server could not be contacted, and to try again later. This morning I tried it again, and this time it worked. Progress!
Then the site led me through a process to verify my identity. This all worked fine until we got to the part where it asked me three security questions. When I typed in the answer to the "significant date" question, an error immediately popped up telling me that my entry was invalid. WTF? I played around a bit with different values, and quickly found out that the "/" was causing that error.
So...
The ObamaCare site let me enter the answer initially as "mm/dd", but then when it was asking me the question again to verify my identity, it wouldn't allow the "/". That means it is impossible for me to enter an answer that matches what I initially entered – and that means I always fail the identity verification. And, naturally, that means I can't do anything else with my health insurance.
I've turned that problem over to Sam for resolution. I hope he's got some trick up his sleeve, because I'm not seeing any way out of this Catch-22 situation.
My out-of-box experience with ObamaCare is bad. I have fears that this won't end well...
We went through the initial signup together. It was fairly straightforward: we entered my email address, a password, and provided the answers to three security questions. One of those questions asked for a date that was significant to me. We chose a date and entered it as "mm/dd" (with a numeric month and day supplied instead of the letters). Then the site told us that I'd be getting an email to validate my email address within 24 hours. Sam told me what would happen after that, we shook hands and I left.
Later that day, I did get the validation email. It had a link to click on to validate my email address. I clicked, and instantly got a screen telling me that the server could not be contacted, and to try again later. This morning I tried it again, and this time it worked. Progress!
Then the site led me through a process to verify my identity. This all worked fine until we got to the part where it asked me three security questions. When I typed in the answer to the "significant date" question, an error immediately popped up telling me that my entry was invalid. WTF? I played around a bit with different values, and quickly found out that the "/" was causing that error.
So...
The ObamaCare site let me enter the answer initially as "mm/dd", but then when it was asking me the question again to verify my identity, it wouldn't allow the "/". That means it is impossible for me to enter an answer that matches what I initially entered – and that means I always fail the identity verification. And, naturally, that means I can't do anything else with my health insurance.
I've turned that problem over to Sam for resolution. I hope he's got some trick up his sleeve, because I'm not seeing any way out of this Catch-22 situation.
My out-of-box experience with ObamaCare is bad. I have fears that this won't end well...
So Obama flew over an Oklahoma Indian Reservation in a small private plane...
The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project...
Germany discovers a sense of humor...
Germany discovers a sense of humor ... and loses faith in green energy. Delingpole...
Obviously, there are more crazy people in the world than I had thought...
What are you going to do about it?
If you're struggling...
A collection of striking chemical reactions...
The Obama administration leads the way...
The Obama administration leads the way ... to voodoo economics and the usual leftist dismissal of the idea that people will react to incentives.
Some day I will once again be proud of my government – but today is not that day. And I fear that by the time that fine day arrives, the socialist wealth-redistributors will have redistributed my retirement savings to pay for their idiotic, ineffective, and expensive socialist schemes...
Some day I will once again be proud of my government – but today is not that day. And I fear that by the time that fine day arrives, the socialist wealth-redistributors will have redistributed my retirement savings to pay for their idiotic, ineffective, and expensive socialist schemes...
Cats are beautiful animals...
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Wow!
California leads the way...
California leads the way ... in egregious financial shenanigans and unabashedly stupid spending by a state government overloaded with debt. No surprise there; it's par for the course for the Democratic super-majority. Such a waste of a beautiful and bountiful state! This sort of socialist, central government thinking is a big part of why we're leaving California for the notably more sanely governed Utah...
Slow blogging alert...
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Remodeling update...
The plumber is also here, working in our basement to rough in the water feed and sewer connection for a new sink.
Progress!
Reason for time's arrow discovered?
Reason for time's arrow discovered? One of the strangest unknowns in physics (and cosmology) has been the reason why time always progresses “forward”. It seems obvious and self-evident to our senses, but it's not at all obvious and self-evident from the mathematics that underlies our understanding of physics. Now scientists have some evidence that quantum entanglement is the cause of the one-way nature of time. If so, it would make time's arrow the most obvious macro-scale manifestation of quantum physics...
Common sense on climate change...
Common sense on climate change... Steve McIntyre and Bjørn Lomborg are my two favorite writers on the subject of climate change. The latter has a new article up that provides a sober and high-level view of the climate change debate. Lomborg is interesting in that he doesn't really dispute most of the climate science – instead, he disputes the idea of spending huge amounts of money trying to mitigate something that's not obviously bad in the first place.
These things worry me...
These things worry me... The world is full of people (and the countries they govern) who are perfectly willing to use military power to expand their sphere of control and influence. For decades now, the United States has been the only power willing to stand up to such tyrannical behavior. Our willingness hasn't been consistent or constant, but it's been there often enough to keep anything really awful from happening. I'm not so sure these days, unfortunately. China and Russia are too damned eager to just how far they can push a United States led by That One...
Venture capitalists are all over marijuana opportunities ...
Venture capitalists are all over marijuana opportunities ... though generally with a wink and a nudge. A couple of years ago, long before Colorado and Washington legalized recreational marijuana, a VC I had a casual conversation with mentioned several investments he'd made in the sector – he didn't think legalization was coming, and didn't think it mattered to the business plans of the companies he was investing in.
Debbie and I will be in Colorado for our vacation this year. It will be interesting to see what differences we'll see from our previous visits...
Debbie and I will be in Colorado for our vacation this year. It will be interesting to see what differences we'll see from our previous visits...
What could possibly go wrong?
What could possibly go wrong? The FDA has approved Palcohol: powdered alcohol. Just mix with water and you've got an instant alcoholic drink. Or add it to food for that unexpected kick...
Book: When I Fell From the Sky...
Book: When I Fell From the Sky... By Juliane (Koepcke) Diller. This is the book I mentioned a week or so ago, about the young girl who survived falling 10,000 feet out of an airplane into the Peruvian jungle. I just finished it last night. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It turns out to be much more than the story of her fall and subsequent survival in the jungle – it's also a story of overcoming the misadventure, of a passion for science, and of the successful establishment of a nature preserve just a few miles from where she fell in 1971. Highly recommended for anyone interested in science and inspiring human experience...
Monday, April 21, 2014
Spring in Logan, Utah...
Excellent...
For instance, when I asked him once why clouds were different shades of white or gray, he told me that it depended on what kind of birds were pooping on the cloud. Pristine clouds were pure white, he said. The really nasty gray clouds were the victims of mass Canadian geese poop attacks. I was probably 7 or 8 at the time, and even then I wasn't buying it. But we got a good laugh from it.
Smithsonian's photo contest finalists...
Baltic Sea time bomb...
Baltic Sea time bomb... I don't know how close this is to my Estonian friends, but it sure doesn't sound good...
Geek: one-bit computers...
Geek: one-bit computers... This was a new one to me, and I'm a little surprised by this because I used to do a lot of work in the controls area. I found the ideas fascinating. Follow the links in the article I linked above for more information. I just might have to build me one of these!
A Finnish back yard...
Is (climate) science actually settled?
Is (climate) science actually settled? No! says Dr. Craig Idso, in a guest post on Watts Up With That?
Not so rare after all...
Not so rare after all... Asteroid impacts, that is. If these articles are accurate, the Earth is being smacked upside the head by a couple of asteroids every year. That's not quite as scary as it sounds, though. Remember, roughly 3/4 of the earth is covered by ocean, and about 1/40 of that 1/4 that is land is covered by cities – so each asteroid has only about one chance in 160 of actually hitting a city. That means we should expect an asteroid to smack down a city about once every 80 years. If an asteroid landing outside a city hurt or killed anyone, well, they were just having a very unlucky day.
There are days when the idea of an asteroid taking out Washington, D.C. is an attractive one.
Most days, actually.
Maybe every day.
There are days when the idea of an asteroid taking out Washington, D.C. is an attractive one.
Most days, actually.
Maybe every day.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Every home has its quirks...
Every home has its quirks ... and Friday I found the first big one in our new home, up here in Paradise, Utah. It's a doozy :)
I did some electrical wiring work in our TV room because of the new piece of ceiling that now covers the previously-exposed heating duct. All of this work was simple, straightforward wiring – Romex, wire nuts, and junction boxes, nothing fancy. The biggest part of this work was to wire up four new recessed lighting fixtures, and that all worked on the first try. I also wired up a new utility box for our (wired) fire alarm in that room. When I finished wiring it, I re-installed the alarm to test it before I buttoned up the work.
The test failed – there was no “juice” to the alarm. I figured that I must have somehow blown a circuit breaker while doing the wiring, so down to the electrical panel I went. No joy – none of the breakers had blown, nor were any of them off. Now I noticed that all the fire alarms were without power. Yikes!
My next thought was that maybe they were powered from the relatively new sub-panel in the basement. Down the two flights of stairs I went, and searched the sub-panel. No joy, again.
Then I remember that I had done some really minor work in another basement room (the big room that we're going to use as an indoor cattery), removing a bunch of duplex outlets that were poorly installed, and that we'd never use. Maybe I accidentally disconnected the fire alarm circuit! Down into the basement I went again, and checked that circuit. No joy, again – it was reconnected correctly and had juice. I noticed, however, that the lights in that room, and on the basement stairway, were no longer working.
What the heck was going on?
I climbed back up to the second floor, where Lane and Pasquale were working hard, and decided to just sit and think for a few minutes. It acted exactly as if a breaker was blown, or a circuit disconnected – but I couldn't find any place where that had happened! Lane came over to commiserate, and offered to talk it over with me in the hopes of coming up with an idea. In the course of doing that, he asked if it was possible that a GFI (ground fault interrupter) device had tripped somewhere. I couldn't imagine that anyone would be crazy enough to put fire alarms and lighting on the same GFI circuit, but Lane said he'd seen much worse than that. Then both of us remembered, at the same moment, seeing a GFI outlet in an unlikely place – near the floor in the big room that we're going to use as a cattery. We went down there, and sure enough that GFI was tripped. I pushed the little red button ... and the lights came back on in that room. Next room over, the fire alarm's green LED was glowing brightly. We ran back upstairs, and – all the alarms were now happily glowing green again. Even the one I had just wired was working correctly.
So someone, sometime, had wired two duplex outlets, the track lights in the cattery room, the basement stair lights, and all 10 fire alarms in the house onto the same circuit – all “protected” by a single small GFI device. Oh, my. That's another thing on my long list of things that need to get fixed :)
I did some electrical wiring work in our TV room because of the new piece of ceiling that now covers the previously-exposed heating duct. All of this work was simple, straightforward wiring – Romex, wire nuts, and junction boxes, nothing fancy. The biggest part of this work was to wire up four new recessed lighting fixtures, and that all worked on the first try. I also wired up a new utility box for our (wired) fire alarm in that room. When I finished wiring it, I re-installed the alarm to test it before I buttoned up the work.
The test failed – there was no “juice” to the alarm. I figured that I must have somehow blown a circuit breaker while doing the wiring, so down to the electrical panel I went. No joy – none of the breakers had blown, nor were any of them off. Now I noticed that all the fire alarms were without power. Yikes!
My next thought was that maybe they were powered from the relatively new sub-panel in the basement. Down the two flights of stairs I went, and searched the sub-panel. No joy, again.
Then I remember that I had done some really minor work in another basement room (the big room that we're going to use as an indoor cattery), removing a bunch of duplex outlets that were poorly installed, and that we'd never use. Maybe I accidentally disconnected the fire alarm circuit! Down into the basement I went again, and checked that circuit. No joy, again – it was reconnected correctly and had juice. I noticed, however, that the lights in that room, and on the basement stairway, were no longer working.
What the heck was going on?
I climbed back up to the second floor, where Lane and Pasquale were working hard, and decided to just sit and think for a few minutes. It acted exactly as if a breaker was blown, or a circuit disconnected – but I couldn't find any place where that had happened! Lane came over to commiserate, and offered to talk it over with me in the hopes of coming up with an idea. In the course of doing that, he asked if it was possible that a GFI (ground fault interrupter) device had tripped somewhere. I couldn't imagine that anyone would be crazy enough to put fire alarms and lighting on the same GFI circuit, but Lane said he'd seen much worse than that. Then both of us remembered, at the same moment, seeing a GFI outlet in an unlikely place – near the floor in the big room that we're going to use as a cattery. We went down there, and sure enough that GFI was tripped. I pushed the little red button ... and the lights came back on in that room. Next room over, the fire alarm's green LED was glowing brightly. We ran back upstairs, and – all the alarms were now happily glowing green again. Even the one I had just wired was working correctly.
So someone, sometime, had wired two duplex outlets, the track lights in the cattery room, the basement stair lights, and all 10 fire alarms in the house onto the same circuit – all “protected” by a single small GFI device. Oh, my. That's another thing on my long list of things that need to get fixed :)
More remodeling progress...
More remodeling progress... Left-to-right below: a crazy little nook in our entrance hall, now enclosed to make a linen closet on the other side; our TV room's 2" floor height difference fixed with a pony wall and ramp, and exposed HVAC duct-work covered over; the one unfinished room in the house (a small storage room) now finished.
The only thing left to do on these items is to “tape” the wallboard and apply orange-peel finish, and to paint. The “taper” (a fellow named Nemo :) visited yesterday to estimate the job; he'll do it this coming Tuesday. The painting will be done along with the rest of the house in the last step of our remodel...
Progress – it's a good thing...
The only thing left to do on these items is to “tape” the wallboard and apply orange-peel finish, and to paint. The “taper” (a fellow named Nemo :) visited yesterday to estimate the job; he'll do it this coming Tuesday. The painting will be done along with the rest of the house in the last step of our remodel...
Progress – it's a good thing...
 |
| Former nook, now closet |
 |
| TV room completion |
 |
| Last unfinished room |
Blooming in Paradise...
Awesome!
Digital imaging (photo geek)...
Digital imaging (photo geek) ... more than you ever wanted to know about noise, dynamic range, and bit depth. The article's headline implies that the discussion is specific to DSLRs, but it actually applies to any digital imaging system.
101 useful web sites...
101 useful web sites... This is a great list! Over half of these are sites I'd never even heard of before...
1. http://www.screenr.com – record movies of your desktop and send them straight to YouTube.
2. http://www.ctrlq.org/screenshots – for capturing screenshots of web pages on mobile and desktops.
3. http://www.goo.gl – shorten long URLs and convert URLs into QR codes.
4. http://www.unfurlr.com – find the original URL that's hiding behind a short URL.
5. http://www.qClock.com – find the local time of a city using a Google Map.
6. http://www.copypastecharacter.com – copy special characters that aren't on your keyboard.
7. http://www.icerocket.com/ – a better search engine for Facebook, Twitter and blogs.
8. http://www.lovelycharts.com – create flowcharts, network diagrams, sitemaps, etc.
9. http://www.iconfinder.com – the best place to find icons of all sizes.
10. http://www.office.com – download templates, clipart and images for your Office documents.
11. http://www.followupthen.com – the easiest way to setup email reminders.
12. http://www.jotti.org – scan any suspicious file or email attachment for viruses.
13. http://www.wolframalpha.com – gets answers directly without searching - see more wolfram tips.
14. http://www.printwhatyoulike.com – print web pages without the clutter.
15. http://www.joliprint.com – reformats news articles and blog content as a newspaper.
16. http://www.ctrlq.org/rss – a search engine for RSS feeds.
17. http://www.e.ggtimer.com – a simple online timer for your daily needs.
18. http://www.coralcdn.org – if a site is down due to heavy traffic, try accessing it through coral CDN.
19. http://www.random.org – pick random numbers, flip coins, and more.
20. http://www.pdfescape.com – lets you can quickly edit PDFs in the browser itself.
21. http://www.viewer.zoho.com – Preview PDFs and Presentations directly in the browser.
22. http://www.tubemogul.com – simultaneously upload videos to YouTube and other video sites.
23. http://www.dabbleboard.com – your virtual whiteboard.
24. http://www.scr.im – share you email address online without worrying about spam.
25. http://www.spypig.com – now get read receipts for your email.
26. http://www.sizeasy.com – visualize and compare the size of any product.
27. http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont – quickly determine the font name from an image.
28. http://www.google.com/webfonts – a good collection of open source fonts.
29. http://www.regex.info – find data hidden in your photographs[/url] – see more EXIF tools.
30. http://www.livestream.com – broadcast events live over the web, including your desktop screen.
31. http://www.iwantmyname.com – helps you search domains across all TLDs.
32. http://www.homestyler.com – design from scratch or re-model your home in 3d.
33. http://www.join.me – share you screen with anyone over the web.
34. http://www.onlineocr.net – recognize text from scanned PDFs - see other OCR tools.
35. http://www.flightstats.com - Track flight status at airports worldwide.
36. http://www.wetransfer.com – for sharing really big files online.
37. http://www.hundredzeros.com – best-sellers on all subjects that you can download for free.
38. http://www.polishmywriting.com – check your writing for spelling or grammatical errors.
39. http://www.marker.to – easily highlight the important parts of a web page for sharing.
40. http://www.typewith.me – work on the same document with multiple people.
41. http://www.whichdateworks.com – planning an event? find a date that works for all.
42. http://www.everytimezone.com – a less confusing view of the world time zones.
43. http://www.gtmetrix.com – the perfect tool for measuring your site performance online.
44. http://www.noteflight.com – print music sheets, write your own music online (review).
45. http://www.imo.im - chat with your buddies on Skype, Facebook, Google Talk, etc. from one place.
46. http://www.translate.google.com – translate web pages, PDFs and Office documents.
47. http://www.kleki.com – create paintings and sketches with a wide variety of brushes.
48. http://www.similarsites.com – discover new sites that are similar to what you like already.
49. http://www.wordle.net – quick summarize long pieces of text with tag clouds.
50. http://www.bubbl.us – create mind-maps, brainstorm ideas in the browser.
51. http://www.kuler.adobe.com – get color ideas, also extract colors from photographs.
52. http://www.liveshare.com – share your photos in an album instantly.
53. http://www.lmgtfy.com – when your friends are too lazy to use Google on their own.
54. http://www.midomi.com – when you need to find the name of a song.
55. http://www.bing.com/images – automatically find perfectly-sized wallpapers for mobiles.
56. http://www.faxzero.com – send an online fax for free.
57. http://www.feedmyinbox.com – get RSS feeds as an email newsletter.
58. http://www.ge.tt – quickly send a file to someone, they can even preview it before downloading.
59. http://www.pipebytes.com – transfer files of any size without uploading to a third-party server.
60. http://www.tinychat.com – setup a private chat room in micro-seconds.
61. http://www.privnote.com – create text notes that will self-destruct after being read.
62. http://www.boxoh.com – track the status of any shipment on Google Maps – alternative.
63. http://www.majorgeeks.com – Download the top 1% of freeware and shareware plus news, occasional reviews and computer help.
64. http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com – find if your favorite website is offline or not?
65. http://www.ewhois.com – find the other websites of a person with reverse Analytics lookup.
66. http://www.whoishostingthis.com – find the web host of any website.
67. http://www.google.com/history – found something on Google but can't remember it now?
68. http://www.aviary.com/myna – an online audio editor that lets record, and remix audio clips online.
69. http://www.disposablewebpage.com – create a temporary web page that self-destruct.
70. http://www.urbandictionary.com – find definitions of slangs and informal words.
71. http://www.seatguru.com – consult this site before choosing a seat for your next flight.
72. http://www.sxc.hu – download stock images absolutely free.
73. http://www.zoom.it – view very high-resolution images in your browser without scrolling.
74. http://www.scribblemaps.com – quickly create custom Google Maps online.
75. http://www.alertful.com – quickly setup email reminders for important events.
76. http://www.picmonkey.com – Picnik is offline but PicMonkey is an even better image editor.
77. http://www.formspring.me – you can ask or answer personal questions here.
78. http://www.sumopaint.com – an excellent layer-based online image editor.
79. http://www.snopes.com – find if that email offer you received is real or just another scam.
80. http://www.typingweb.com – master touch-typing with these practice sessions.
81. http://www.mailvu.com – send video emails to anyone using your web cam.
82. http://www.timerime.com – create timelines with audio, video and images.
83. http://www.stupeflix.com – make a movie out of your images, audio and video clips.
84. http://www.safeweb.norton.com – check the trust level of any website.
85. http://www.teuxdeux.com – a beautiful to-do app that looks like your paper dairy.
86. http://www.deadurl.com – you'll need this when your bookmarked web pages are deleted.
87. http://www.minutes.io – quickly capture effective notes during meetings.
88. http://www.youtube.com/leanback – Watch YouTube channels in TV mode.
89. http://www.youtube.com/disco – quickly create a video playlist of your favorite artist.
90. http://www.talltweets.com – Send tweets longer than 140 characters.
91. http://www.pancake.io – create a free and simple website using your Dropbox account.
92. http://www.builtwith.com – find the technology stack of any website.
93. http://www.woorank.com – research a website from the SEO perspective.
94. http://www.mixlr.com – broadcast live audio over the web.
95. http://www.radbox.me – bookmark online videos and watch them later (review).
96. http://www.tagmydoc.com – add QR codes to your documents and presentations (review).
97. http://www.notes.io – the easiest way to write short text notes in the browser.
98. http://www.ctrlq.org/html-mail – send rich-text mails to anyone, anonymously.
99. http://www.fiverr.com – hire people to do little things for $5.
100. http://www.otixo.com – easily manage your online files on Dropbox, Google Docs, etc.
101.http://www.ifttt.com – create a connection between all your online accounts.
Meatball police taking action...
Meatball police taking action ... and Delingpole is not happy about it...
Obama's latest trick...
Obama's latest trick... Here was Obama's dilemma: Congress overwhelmingly passed a law that called for barring an Iranian diplomat from entering the U.S. to attend his mission at the U.N. Why? Because this particular diplomat was one of the Iranian terrorists behind the raid on the U.S. Embassy to Iran back in 1979, and the subsequent holding of American hostages for over a year. The problem for Obama is that he doesn't want to bar this diplomat, and Congress easily had enough votes to override his veto.
So Obama signed the bill, then immediately announced that he wouldn't enforce it. Seriously.
I can't help but be reminded of Hugo Chavez's executive overreach on his way to overtly seizing power in Venezuela. As the linked article also notes, the action drips with hypocrisy, as Senator Obama harshly criticized George W. Bush for doing the equivalent.
What the hell has happened to my country?
So Obama signed the bill, then immediately announced that he wouldn't enforce it. Seriously.
I can't help but be reminded of Hugo Chavez's executive overreach on his way to overtly seizing power in Venezuela. As the linked article also notes, the action drips with hypocrisy, as Senator Obama harshly criticized George W. Bush for doing the equivalent.
What the hell has happened to my country?
RIP, John C. Houbolt...
Back in the early '60s, I was avidly following the U.S. space program. My discovery of libraries (first in the school system, later the County library) gave me access to the closest thing in those days to the Internet. I realize this concept will be foreign to many of my readers, but back then if you wanted up-to-date information on science and technology, you simply couldn't get it from your home. It wasn't possible. You had to go to a library that subscribed to the (very expensive) science and technology journals. Fortunately for me, even the elementary school I went to had some subscriptions to such journals, including some that were written in a way that was accessible to someone quite young.
In those journals I learned about the story of the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) mode that was eventually selected for the Apollo moon landings, and of John Houbolt's passionate advocacy for it. When NASA was deciding which mode to use, the direct ascent mode was the obvious one that most people assumed is what NASA would do. In that mode, a gigantic rocket (called Nova) would launch directly toward the moon, land on it, take off from the moon, and head directly back to Earth. This seemed the simplest and safest route to just about everybody – except John Houbolt. He did the math, and realized that it would be possible for a rocket less than half the size of Nova to take astronauts to the moon and back – but only if they did this crazy thing called LOR.
LOR, which is the mode used on all the Apollo lunar missions, required many more steps and complex-sounding maneuvers. First, a Saturn V rocket would launch the Apollo spacecraft into Earth orbit. It included a Command Module (which had the re-entry shield), a Service Module (with a rocket engine, fuel, and other supplies), and the Lunar Module (encased in an aerodynamic shroud). Once in orbit, the shrouds around the Lunar Module were blown away with explosives, and then the combined Command Module/Service Module would pull away, turn around, and dock with the Lunar Module. This combined spacecraft would then blast away (using the Service Module's rocket) toward the moon. Once at the moon, they'd use the Service Module rocket again to slow the spacecraft down for injection into lunar orbit. At that point, two of the three astronauts would crawl into the Lunar Module, undock from the Command Module, and use the Lunar Module's rockets to land on the moon. Meanwhile, the remaining astronaut stayed in the Command Module, orbiting the moon while his two companions explored the lunar surface. When the lunar mission was finished, the two lunar astronauts would climb back into the Lunar Module, and the top half of it would blast off back into lunar orbit, where they would rendezvous with their ride home (the Command Module). This was always the most frightening part of those missions for me, following closely here on Earth. If those lunar astronauts couldn't rendezvous with the Command Module, they were doomed to an awful fate, orbiting the moon forever. That rendezvous worked every time, though. Once the Lunar Module had redocked with the Command Module, the lunar astronauts would crawl back into the Command Module. Then they'd undock from the Lunar Module, and light off the Service Module's rocket to blast them back toward Earth. Once they neared Earth, the Command Module would disconnect from the Service Module, and just the Command Module would safely re-enter Earth's atmosphere and parachute down to an ocean landing.
If you manage to make it through my description of LOR above, I'm sure you'll recognize just how complex and Rube Goldberg-like LOR sounded to all the NASA engineers other than John Houbolt. On more than one occasion, people called him crazy and much worse. But with sheer persistence and a stubborn refusal to be silenced, John Houbolt eventually persuaded the rest of NASA that LOR was actually the only mode that had a chance of meeting JFK's goal for a man on the moon by the end of the '60s decade. Why? There were two main reasons. First, NASA's engineers realized that they couldn't possibly build the gigantic Nova rocket in time. Second, they realized that all of the maneuvers required for LOR were actually practicable in the time provided. The challenges there were actually easier, engineering-wise, than building Nova.
John C. Houbolt's story was inspiring to me as a young man, and most especially, as a wannabe engineer. His careful marshaling of facts and evidence to support his proposal fascinated me. After LOR was selected, he led the engineering team that actually developed it – and that was another fascinating story to follow. For nearly ten years, I devoured stories about he and his team as they developed the LOR systems. On Apollo 10, the Lunar Module first flew separately in lunar orbit, and the crew successfully did the first lunar orbit rendezvous – and I remember reading about the relief and celebration in John Houbolt's team. LOR worked!
That moment when something you imagined, designed, and built actually functions as intended – for me, that's the essence of what it means to be an engineer. It's the kind of achievement that I find most satisfying and fun. John C. Houbolt was the embodiment of that for me, in my youth. His story inspired me, and I often thought of him when people told me I couldn't do something or other (which happened rather a lot :). Though I've never met anyone else who said the same, I'd bet there are a lot of other engineers roughly my age who would.
RIP, John C. Houbolt. That's a helluva a story you've left behind!
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Speaking of the Post Office...
I flipped it over, and it tells you right there that you're about to be subjected to direct mail marketing (aka “junk mail”). Note that nothing listed on the back indicates any action is required on my part.So I opened it up. Inside were a number of coupons and advertising circulars, and the confirmation letter (see below) – which required no action on my part. After pawing through all the coupons, I found exactly one coupon that we might use: 10% off at Lowe's, on up to $5,000 worth of merchandise. The rest were all junk.
The Post Office – which my tax dollars subsidize – has become a junk mailer.
Can we just outsource the Post Office, please?
Through a Google Glass, darkly...
Through a Google Glass, darkly... Matt Labash on Google's wearable computer...
Success!
Elon Musk and his SpaceX team is making a very visible demonstration of the innovation and nimbleness of free enterprise, as compared to the government-run space programs that used to be the only way to get into space. If I worked for NASA, I'd be aching to get a job at SpaceX – a place where they actually, like, make things happen...
You're not really surprised, are you?
You're not really surprised, are you? The Obama administration has delayed a decision on the Keystone pipeline, again.
It really doesn't matter that most Americans want the pipeline built. The technical arguments for and against it are also irrelevant. Realistically Obama only has one option: to kick this can down the road by making no decision at all. Why? It's simple: his most generous liberal supporters are almost evenly split between being adamantly opposed to building it (that's the environmentalist wacko wing of the Democratic party) and fervently for it (that's the union wing of the party). The majority of Democrats – who are in neither of those wings – support building the pipeline. But their support comes with very little in the way of campaign contributions, so their voice is heavily discounted.
Kick the can, Barack. It's what a Big Government politician does when faced with the need to make a controversial decision. Nobody who knows you at all would expect anything else – and certainly nothing that required bedrock beliefs, courage, or even common sense...
It really doesn't matter that most Americans want the pipeline built. The technical arguments for and against it are also irrelevant. Realistically Obama only has one option: to kick this can down the road by making no decision at all. Why? It's simple: his most generous liberal supporters are almost evenly split between being adamantly opposed to building it (that's the environmentalist wacko wing of the Democratic party) and fervently for it (that's the union wing of the party). The majority of Democrats – who are in neither of those wings – support building the pipeline. But their support comes with very little in the way of campaign contributions, so their voice is heavily discounted.
Kick the can, Barack. It's what a Big Government politician does when faced with the need to make a controversial decision. Nobody who knows you at all would expect anything else – and certainly nothing that required bedrock beliefs, courage, or even common sense...
Some very sweet photos...
An unexpectedly interesting read...
An unexpectedly interesting read... Harry Reid's Facebook page, that is. It's a surreal collection of hard-left propaganda (from Reid) and angry constituents. There's very little support for him there. Kind of sad, actually.
Here's one example of a constituent's commentary. Many of them I'd be reluctant to republish. Suffice it to say that they're not happy:
Here's one example of a constituent's commentary. Many of them I'd be reluctant to republish. Suffice it to say that they're not happy:
Russ Wilcox Mr Reid (sorry you don't deserve the respect of the title Senator) why do you belittle people who oppose your views? If you ask me you are the terrorist, you are the one who is UN-AMERICAN!!! You should be ashamed of yourself for acting like a child throwing a tantrum calling people names. I for one am a PROUD AMERICAN, but I am ASHAMED OF MY GOVERNMENT. Try doing your job and represent those in your district NOT those in your party. It's easy to do just do whats RIGHT!!!
Watch out!
Watch out! Antarctic ice is now at an all-time high. Global warming is really starting to have an impact!
Open source seeds...
Open source seeds... The “open source” movement started with software, but seems to be spreading to all sorts of things in a generalized push-back against intellectual property (patents and copyrights) laws. I've been watching open source electronic and mechanical hardware, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, music, and now plant seeds. If these non-software open source movements follow the software path, we'll soon see the large companies joining in as they realize the economic benefits of shared development. It's far from clear to me that this actually works outside of software – and even inside the software industry, so far it only works in limited areas (generally for software that is used by a great many companies)...
British Pathe documentaries are all online...
Dragon Lady...
Hummers in the Delphinium luteum...
Great truths...
Great truths... Reader Jim M. lists 25 great truths that are well worth reading and thinking about. One thing that struck me is just how old some of these are – the great battle between liberalism and freedom has been going on for a very long time...
In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.
-- John Adams
If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.
-- Mark Twain
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself.
-- Mark Twain
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
--Winston Churchill
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
-- George Bernard Shaw
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.
-- G. Gordon Liddy
Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.
--James Bovard (1994)
Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.
-- Douglas Case
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
-- P.J. O'Rourke
Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.
-- Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850)
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
--Ronald Reagan (1986)
I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
-- Will Rogers
If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free!
-- P. J. O'Rourke
In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
--Voltaire (1764)
Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!
-- Pericles (430 B.C.)
No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.
-- Mark Twain (1866)
Talk is cheap, except when Congress does it.
-- Anonymous, though often attributed to Will Rogers
The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.
-- Ronald Reagan
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
-- Winston Churchill
The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.
-- Mark Twain
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.
-- Herbert Spencer
There is no distinctly Native American criminal class, save Congress.
-- Mark Twain
What this country needs are more unemployed politicians
-- Edward Langley
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
-- Thomas Jefferson
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
-- Aesop
Jumping, jumping, jumping...
I know some of the people in the video. Despite being a technology geek (and a blogger!), I'm still amazed how easy it is today for ordinary people to be very public through web publication of text, photos, and video. The latter is especially powerful in that regard, and it's so simple – and free – today for anyone to use that. When I was 20 years old, in 1972, that kind of exposure would have been quite difficult, so expensive that only wealthy people could afford it, and time-consuming to produce and broadcast. Now it's simple, free, and instantaneous. That's quite a transition in just a few decades...
Green dot illusion...
Green dot illusion... Reader Simi L. sends along this great optical illusion. The first effect (the green dot) I saw immediately. The second effect (the disappearing pink dots) took longer – it requires steady focus on the black cross to see it:
One surprise for me on the second effect was that I sometimes saw some of the pink dots, but not others – they'd disappear and reappear seemingly at random. The brain is a funny thing!
If your eyes follow the movement of the rotating pink dot, the dots will remain only one color, pink.
However if you stare at the black '+' in the centre, the moving dot turns to green. Now concentrate on the black '+' in the centre of the picture. After a short period all the pink dots will slowly disappear and you will see only a single green dot rotating.
It's amazing how our brain works. There is no green dot, and the pink ones don't disappear. This should be proof enough, we don't always see what we think we see.
One surprise for me on the second effect was that I sometimes saw some of the pink dots, but not others – they'd disappear and reappear seemingly at random. The brain is a funny thing!
US Post Service – Big Data supplier?
US Post Service – Big Data supplier? Friend, former colleague, and reader Larry E. sends this along, saying it's another reason to get rid of the USPS. I have several reactions to that:
- We needed more reasons to get rid of them?
- What are the chances that they could actually pull this off? We're talking about the Post Office, folks...
- If we privatized the delivery of first class mail, the data would be mined immediately – exactly as UPS, Fedex, and other private carriers are already doing...
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Apologies for the slow blogging today...
They'll be back at 8 am tomorrow morning, so blogging will be light until the weekend...
For my mom...
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Not impressed...
Not impressed... Delingpole, that is – he's definitely not impressed by the UN's sexism expert...
All dogs, all the time...
Museum of Quackery...
The Museum of Quackery home page will lead you to all the goodies...
Five materials that will change the world...
Five materials that will change the world... The last two of these were new to me: shrilk and stanene. Advances in materials science has been spectacular over my own lifetime, though I've noted before that most people seem to be largely unaware of them. I suspect that's because the materials advances have generally been a component of some other piece of more visible technology. Take an iPhone, for example: dozens of advances in materials were required before an iPhone could be possible...
I don't like the wind!
Cherry blossoms in Washington...
World's first atomic clock wristwatch!
Southwest Airlines safety briefing...
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
A new Saturnian moon?
Oh, this makes me feel old...
When I was a kid, the smallest music playing device was the size of a briefcase: a portable record player that had a vacuum tube amplifier and had to be plugged into the wall for power. That device was only a small improvement over the original Edison cylinder players.
I don't recall ever having the reaction that these kids have, of thinking that some piece of technology (however old) was incomprehensible and awful. Mostly I recall looking forward to near-miraculous advances that seemed to happen in very quick succession (semiconductors, plastics, lasers, etc.).
How about you? Do you remember ever having reactions to your parents' technology that was anything like these kids?
Cannibalism...
Cannibalism... My first reaction upon reading this story was “Wait. What? Cannibalism isn’t illegal in Pakistan?” But then I discovered that it's not illegal in the U.S., either!
We have laws forbidding spitting on the sidewalk, but not eating each other?
We have laws forbidding spitting on the sidewalk, but not eating each other?
I'd say “Happy Tax Day!”...
Harry Reid...
How did he get to be so wealthy on a Senator's salary?
Why do Nevadans keep re-electing him? Nevada isn't exactly a bastion of Progressivism – and yet they keep electing an unabashed Progressive...
Reid's demonization of the Koch brothers (134 times to date; see video) is not supportable by facts, and is an unseemly attack by a politician on American citizens. Why does Reid think this is either acceptable behavior or good politics?
Reid has been repeatedly associated with shady deals that profit him. Why haven't these been aggressively investigated, as they would if you or I had done it?
I think of Harry Reid as a kind of warning indicator. When politicians like him can not only survive, but thrive (if you've been living under a rock, he's the Senate Majority Leader), that's a clear warning signal that something in Washington is badly awry – the stench of corruption is strong here...
Something is broken...
Something is broken... Friend, former colleague, and Marine Larry E. sends along his thoughts:
What's that deeper problem? This country's voters. They are repeatedly voting in those elected officials that are perpetrating the worst offenses. So long as “we the people” keep electing these corrupted bureaucrats, we're asking them to give it to us, good and hard. And they're happy to oblige.
Want some specific examples? Well, that's pretty easy:
Barack Obama. We elected him to a second term. Really? Are we really that stupid? Apparently we are.
Nancy Pelosi. She has been elected to the House with overwhelming margins 14 times.
Mitch McConnell. He has been elected to the Senate repeatedly for 30 years.
I could go on like this for a long time, listing repeatedly elected bureaucrats from both parties who are certifiable members of the Big Government brigade. As long as we keep electing these corrupt power-seekers, we're going to get more and more of what we have in this country today. None of them were elected by forcing votes at the point of a gun – they were elected by voters voluntarily selecting them from a roster of alternatives. If the voters elect small-government supporters, we'll get a smaller and less intrusive government.
But not until then...
There's much in Larry's essay that I agree with, including the problems caused by the NSA's virtually unchecked internal spying. But I don't agree that the Patriot Act and its consequences are the root cause of our creeping government. I think they are symptoms of a deeper problem.The Constitution, The Law and Regulation
A layman’s view
I’m not a Constitutional Law professor like our President. My credentials are only that I’m an active, interested citizen of this country with an interest in our government. I particularly find U.S. history interesting and follow the happenings in our government with interest and with dismay.
As we all should know, the U.S. Constitution created three distinct branches of government, outlines the role and limits to the power of the Federal government and additionally outlines a number of specifically guaranteed rights for the people. Distinctly different than the rulers in history that got their power via conquest or divine right, the U.S. Constitution is the governing document that lends legitimacy to our government.
The Legislative Branch, the Congress, is made up of both the House of Representatives and the Senate and they have the responsibility of passing laws to govern the nation within the framework of the constitution. Each Congressman and Senator has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution.
The Executive Branch has the responsibility of administering laws passed by Congress and does do so via regulations issued by various agencies. The Executive Branch has no law making authority and so those regulations must fall within the laws as passed by Congress. The President, as head of the Executive Branch has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and to faithfully execute the laws.
The Judicial Branch has the responsibility of determining the constitutionality of these laws, and the legality of those regulations. They too swear an oath to uphold the Constitution.
Three distinct branches of government were established in order to provide checks and balances over each other. Our government was designed to limit the power of government and to ensure that no one branch grew too powerful.
The U.S. Constitution defines the relationship between the government and its citizens. Specifically it defines the limitations of government and asserts the rights of the people. Why do we have a Constitution? We have a Constitution because our founders believed in the idea of self-governance and not in the divine right of Kings to rule. We should thank the subjects of King John for forcing his signature on the Magna Carte and beginning the process of tearing down the idea of absolute Monarchy.
The very reason for the existence of such a document is to limit the power of government and moreover the 9th Amendment came about because the founders were concerned that by enumerating certain rights, future governments would use that to assert that all other rights would be in the hands of government, not the people. The text, “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” came after debate on how to prevent congress from asserting authority over other areas. Interestingly, many of the founders didn’t believe that this amendment and some others were necessary. Not that they disagreed with limiting governmental powers, but because they felt that the Constitution already clearly did so. Similarly the 10th Amendment “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Also limits the power of the Federal government.
This is such an amazing thing. Consider a government founded on the notion that rights first resided with the people, not the government. Consider a system founded on the idea of limited government power. Consider the idea that people govern themselves and are not ruled.
Now consider a government whose members have come to believe that they are more important than the rest. A government whose members believe the law is for everyone else. A government that believes that the U.S. Constitution is an inconvenience they need work around.
With a multi-branch government of checks and balances, one would expect that should the Congress exceed its authority, the President would veto the bill, or barring this, the Judicial Branch would rule a law to be unconstitutional. If the President exceeds his authority or shirks his constitutional responsibilities, the Congress would exercise its authority and rein him in. One would think that a government whose authority stems from a written constitution would always be mindful of this document and their sworn oaths.
This isn’t happening. Something is broken.
Congress routinely passes laws outside their constitutional authority. Instead of perhaps following the process to attempt to amend the constitution, as has been done in the past, they prefer to try to rationalize exceptions and loopholes to push their own agenda.
The President routinely ignores laws he disagrees with and directs federal agencies to do the same.
Instead of remembering that the constitution guarantees the rights of the people first, the courts seem to defer to the government.
The President complains that it is difficult to get laws passed through Congress. He is correct. It is difficult. It should be difficult. It should be very difficult. Particularly when passing transformational laws, laws that skirt constitutional rights and laws that assert new governmental authorities. In fact, I’d say that it should be nearly impossible. Our government, established by our constitution, was designed to limit Federal power. It was not designed to impose itself on the people.
And yet, despite a constitution that restricts government and guarantees the rights of the people, we have a non-stop assault on the concept of liberty that was so important to our founders. Warrantless searches, a secret court creating secret findings, citizens assassinated or spirited away without trial, anti-gun legislation, cover-ups, free-speech zones and attempts to limit and intimidate the press. There is a full out assault on our constitutional rights.
Something is broken.
In a free society there are no secret courts issuing secret warrants and secret rulings that have citizens killed or taken to secret prisons. These are the things of a tyranny.
Something is broken.
In a constitutionally governed society, politicians should not be passing laws that violate their oaths and exceed their constitutional authority. The laws they do pass should be limited in scope and carefully considered, not passed in the dead of night. They would not be creating large agencies left to the discretion of the President and instead they should be providing active oversight of the agencies they do create. In a governed society, they should be vigorously defending the constitution not trampling it in order to exploit the latest event in the news.
Something is broken.
In a society that is governed, not ruled, Presidents do not ignore laws, rewrite laws or create their own interpretations. In a society that is governed, federal agencies aren’t used to target political opponents and instead, the President, as chief executive, would manage the activities of these agencies and via regulations and active oversight to ensure their compliance with the constitution and the law.
Something is broken.
In a society of laws, the Attorney General does not spend his time rationalizing breaches of authority and the Courts do not err in favor of government. In a society of laws, the Attorney General prosecutes those using their authorities to target political opponents and does not engage an investigation into an individual to appease activist groups. In a society of laws, the Attorney general doesn’t ignore subpoenas from congress.
Something is broken.
In a functioning system of checks and balances, the branches of government rein each other in. They are adversarial to a purpose.
What happened? Why isn’t our system working? What broke?
I’m not certain, but if I had to guess, the real game changer was the NSA. Public fear allowed for the creation of a shadowy fourth branch of government. In particular, when the Patriot Act was passed and the government in one swoop created secret courts, no-fly lists, homeland security and the expansion of domestic spying it removed accountability and concentrated power into the hands of the Executive Branch but more importantly it funneled massive amounts of money and gave carte blanche to the NSA.
The difference between the modern NSA and the old KGB, or even the Watergate scandal is in the scale and capabilities. They used to have to target those suspected of a crime because they didn’t have the resources to target everyone. They actually had to sneak into a room and plant listening devices, or go to the phone company and tap a phone line. Those days are long gone.
Now the NSA knows all of our secrets. It knows yours. It knows mine. And perhaps more importantly, it knows all the secrets of all of those in power and all of those that could and do have the responsibility to challenge them. A Congressman that is publicly advocating family values but has a mistress behind the scenes or a Senator that is quietly taking bribes for contracts and influence can easily be coerced.
Congress dares not act because they, like us, are all guilty.
We all commit our sins, big and small. We are all guilty of breaking any number of the vast and growing set of laws governing us. We all could be embarrassed or even imprisoned should the eye turn its gaze to us. Until the great eye is put out, as long as the eye exists, freedom is gone and none are safe.
What's that deeper problem? This country's voters. They are repeatedly voting in those elected officials that are perpetrating the worst offenses. So long as “we the people” keep electing these corrupted bureaucrats, we're asking them to give it to us, good and hard. And they're happy to oblige.
Want some specific examples? Well, that's pretty easy:
Barack Obama. We elected him to a second term. Really? Are we really that stupid? Apparently we are.
Nancy Pelosi. She has been elected to the House with overwhelming margins 14 times.
Mitch McConnell. He has been elected to the Senate repeatedly for 30 years.
I could go on like this for a long time, listing repeatedly elected bureaucrats from both parties who are certifiable members of the Big Government brigade. As long as we keep electing these corrupt power-seekers, we're going to get more and more of what we have in this country today. None of them were elected by forcing votes at the point of a gun – they were elected by voters voluntarily selecting them from a roster of alternatives. If the voters elect small-government supporters, we'll get a smaller and less intrusive government.
But not until then...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)