Spam...

Randy Cassingham's excellent spam (email spam, not the meat product) primer.  You should read this even if you think you know everything about spam...

Echinopsis huascha...

I have no idea how to pronounce that, but I know it's beautiful.  From Botany Photo of the Day, of course.  As usual, click to enlarge...

Groan...

Reader Dave H. passes this along, saying

“If you are in a book store and cannot find the book for which you search, then obviously you are in the...”

Agility Cat...

Via my lovely wife (who competes in dog agility), this video of cat agility.  As someone who has lived with many cats for many years, I must admit that I would not have thought it possible to train a cat to do this...

X-47B UCAS...

This is the U.S. Navy's next-generation UAV, intended for use on carriers.  It's highly stealthy, has quite a large operating radius, and can carry both weapons and sensors.  A task force equipped with a few of these could monitor and control a very large area at sea, and could also project force effectively on land when the task force was 500 miles or more offshore...

Can Our Dogs Do This?

Reader Simon M. asks: can our dogs do this?

Sadly, Simon, they cannot...

Go Home, You Hypocrites!

What could I add to this?

Cepheus Flare...

Awesome.  Click to enlarge.  From APOD, of course.

Time-Lapse Flower Photography...

Via my mom:

Sign Outside a Business in Florida...

Your first reaction to this will likely be similar to mine.

But...

Your reaction might be much different when you realize that the business in question was a funeral home.

Via reader Jim M...

Are You a Democrat, a Republican, or a Southerner?

By this test, I'm somewhere between a Republican and a Southerner.  By most other tests, I'm a long way from either :-).  Via reader Jim M.:

You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children.  Suddenly, a Terrorist with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, raises the knife, and charges straight at you...

You are carrying a Kimber 1911 cal. 45 ACP with a 7 bullet magazine, and you are an expert shot.  You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family.  What do you do?

Democrat's Answer:

• Well, that's not enough information to answer the question!
• What is a Kimber 1911 cal. 45 ACP?
• Does the man look poor or oppressed?
• Is he really a terrorist? Am I guilty of profiling?
• Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack?
• Could we run away?
• What does my wife think?
• What about the kids?
• Were the bullets made by unionized labor being paid a living wage?
• Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand?
• What does the law say about this situation?
• Does the pistol have appropriate safety built into it?
• Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children?
• Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me?
• Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me?
• If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me?
• Should I call 9-1-1?
• Why is this street so deserted?
• We need to raise taxes, have paint & weed day.
• Can we make this a happier, healthier street that would discourage such behavior.
• I need to debate this with some friends for a few days and try to come to a consensus.
• This is all so confusing!

Republican's Answer:

• BANG!

Southerner's Answer:

• BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
• Click..... (Sounds of reloading)
• BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
• Click
• Daughter: 'Nice grouping, Daddy!  Were those the Winchester Silver Tips or Hollow Points?!
• Son: 'Can I shoot the next one?!'
• Wife: 'You ain't taking that to the Taxidermist!

Motivation...

Via my colleague Aleck L.:




The video is new to me, though the studies it's reporting on are not.  One of the big mysteries of managing engineers (or other knowledge workers, I'm sure) is how to motivate them to do what you want them to do. 

Much of what this video articulates matches my own experiences – but there are motivations controllable by managements (some of them involving money) that my experience tells me actually do work.  All of these involve two elements not explored by these studies: recognition (that is, letting peers – inside or outside the company – know what good thing you've accomplished) and spot cash (that is, cash bonuses awarded not according to some rules or formulae, but rather at the moment some good behavior needs to be rewarded).  I've also seen the power of negative motivation.  I once used a stuffed monkey with a dunce's cap as a motivational tool.  Whenver someone did something dumb, they got the monkey – and it sat on their desk until the next person did something dumb.  That damned monkey was one of the best tools I ever found for getting engineers to behave the way I wanted them to, and it was negative reinforcement.  I'm pretty sure it only worked because the culture we had at that job was right for it, though...

CRAP = Usability...

Where CRAP = Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity...

Sweet 'n Salty Capacitors!

By Emily Daniels.  Awesome!

Which Talking Head is More Credible - A or B?

This “debate” on (of all places!) Anderson Cooper's show is a nice comparison between two experts: Peter Schiff, accomplished business man on one side, and Cornell West, a leading light of progressive economics.  You be the judge:

Four for Four...

Debbie is running Miki in an agility competition today, downtown at the old NTC.  She just called me, and you could hear the smile: Miki just finished his fourth run for the weekend (two in jumpers, two in standard).  Result: three first place finishes (and one fifth), and he's now in Excellent B in both.  Bonus: he earned his first 19 Mach points.

Woot woot!!!

One other interesting note.  Yesterday she took Miki down by himself, and noted that he seemed a bit stressed by the end of the day.  Today she took Race (who wasn't entered) down with him, to see if having his buddy along would make a difference.  Debbie reports that Miki was distinctly less stressed.  Having his friend along made it all easier...

How to Speak Liberal...

From John Hawkins, the coffee-spurter of the day.  Here are a few choice examples, but do go read the whole thing!

Compassion: Feeling good about yourself for wanting to give away money you didn’t earn to people you hope will vote for your side.

Greed: Wanting to keep money you’ve earned instead of having it spent on Bridges to Nowhere and government loans to people who’ve contributed to Obama’s campaign.

Guns: Vicious weapons that force people to kill each other.

Minorities: People who are too dumb and incompetent to make it without liberal help. 

Our opponents refuse to compromise on this issue: The Republicans refuse to do everything we want.

Racism: A word you cry when you’re losing an argument with a conservative.

Taxes: A limitless supply of free money to be given away to liberal special interests in return for votes.

Tolerance: Something that justifies going on hate-filled rants against people who don’t share your view of the world.

Unfair attack: They quoted me.

Seaside Limestone...

My mom sent this photo along as part of a collection of beautiful landscapes.  I've seen the photo before, though I can't recall where.  For some reason, I'm associating this with Iceland, though I'm not at all sure that's correct.

The limestone against the quiet sea instantly recalls many such scenes I saw while exploring the islands of Estonia (primarily Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, shown in Google Maps below).  It's been over five years now since my last visit to Estonia.  I hope to return one of these fine days, and bring Debbie (who's never been there) with me...




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Geeky Job Posting...

Not really all that difficult, though.  Via reader Jim M.:

Rednecks, Paintball Guns, and Rednecks...

Via reader Jim M.: