If I Ever Go Live Where It Snows...

...then I gotta get me some of these!

Hmmmm?

Why do we say hmmm?

Transit of Venus...

A nice video compilation of observations of the recent transit of Venus, made by various scientific instruments operated by NASA.  More than anything I've seen recently, this video brings home just how much our solar observing capabilities have improved in just the past few years.  Most of the differences in the various views you'll see have to do with what wavelengths of light are being observed.  From APOD, of course – and when you click over there, don't miss the links to other photos of the transit.  Some of them are amazing!

OMG: Chinese Dogs...

I don't know what to say to this – the animals aren't actually being hurt, but still...this just seems wrong on some profound level.  Debbie likes to put funny hats and reindeer antlers, etc., on our dogs – funny-looking, to be sure, but I have the same basic reaction to both that and these Chinese dogs.  Via my mom, who for some reason thought I should see this.  Of course, now that I have...it can't be unseen...

The Manslater...

It's about frickin' time someone invented this!

You Are Not Special...

What a refreshing message for high school graduates!  Over the past twenty years or so, I've run into so many young Americans who really could have used this message.  Really what they needed was to have been raised and educated in a manner consistent with this message – as so many young people outside America are.

Several readers sent me links to transcripts of this speech, but I was holding out for the video.  In this day and age, one can be pretty much certain that something like this would be videotaped.  Turns out I had four separate videos to choose from :-)

Posner Smacks Down Apple and Google...

... and disses the U.S. patent system while he's at it.  From a news report:

A U.S. judge yesterday threw aside a much-anticipated trial between Apple and Google-owned Motorola Mobility over smartphone patents. The decision and a blog comment by the same judge could prove to be a watershed moment for a U.S. patent system that has spiraled out of control.

In his remarkable ruling, U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Posner stated that there was no point in holding a trial because it was apparent that neither side could show they had been harmed by the other’s patent infringement. He said he was inclined to dismiss the case with prejudice — meaning the parties can’t come back to fight over the same patents — and that he would enter a more formal opinion confirming this next week.

There's more in this blog post by Posner, in which he calls the patent system “dysfunctional”.  Well, yes it is – but we haven't often seen insider, influential people like Posner admitting that.  Might we actually do something about it?  What a lovely thought!

Piano History...

This isn't what you think – just watch and enjoy Victor Borge's performance.  There are only a few notes played in this entire video...

Miki...

Miki is one of our dogs that Debbie is currently running in agility competitions (the other is Race, our Border Collie).  The photo at right is of Miki exiting a tunnel obstacle in a recent competition.  Click on it and check out his expression.  What do you suppose is going through his little dogly brain at that moment?

It worries me :-)

One Hundred Years Ago...

June 10, 1912, in Villisca, Iowa, a family of six plus two other children were killed by an ax-wielding murderer.  At that time and in that area, such crimes were “unheard of” – people didn't even lock their homes.  Nobody was ever convicted of the crime. 

The story of the murder's investigation is fascinating, involving religion, ineptness, crazy people, and more.  Also interesting: this may have been just one of several similar murders by the same murderer – in other words, a serial murderer.

Reading this story reminds me of something I've read several times in serious historical works: as best anyone can tell, the rate of such horrifying murders has not increased over the years (though the lethality certainly has, with modern weapons), despite the nearly-universal believe to the contrary.  Really!  The number of such crimes being reported and solved has definitely increased, but historians believe this is entirely due to increased communications around the world and vastly improved criminal investigations.  Consider a serial murderer in, say, 1800, who traveled for a month or so between murders.  Two towns in the U.S. in 1800 that were a few hundred miles apart would quite likely never even know that each other had experienced a similar murder – and even if they did find out, it would be long after the fact and long after any investigation.  Two and two would simply never have been put together.  The world before about 1920 or so was a much safer place for serial murders...

Venus on the Edge...

A few days ago we had the rare transit of Venus across the sun (as seen from Earth, of course).  This image, captured by the Hinode spacecraft, a joint Japanese/U.S./U.K. mission.  It is in orbit around the Earth, so it saw the transit of Venus just as us surface-dwellers did.

This image shows Venus just as it crossed one edge of the sun.  If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can clearly see a bright ring all the way around Venus – sunlight refracting through Venus' carbon dioxide rich atmosphere. 

Photo from APOD, of course...

This Sounds Hopeful...

An Alzheimer's vaccine looks good in its first trial. 

As the good Instapundit would say: faster, please!

You Can't Unsee This...

You've been warned: if you watch this, you can't unsee it.  I stumbled across this video quite by accident, watched it, and had the creepiest moment I've had in a long time.  I'd rather wake up to see a tarantula is tickling my nose than to be alone with this girl...

Magic Mirror?

The top mirror at right uses a newly patented technology to make a low-distortion wide-angle mirror for car mirrors (shown at right as the top, handheld mirror).  Basically the patent covers a method for computing the shape of the mirror's surface.

From the descriptions I've seen on the web (which are unfortunately vague), the surface of the mirror is textured at a microscopic level – much like the surface of a high quality Fresnel lens (though not with circular patterns).  I've also been unable to find out anything about how the mirror would be manufactured.  My guess would be through a molding process, much like the high quality Fresnel lenses available today.

In any case, current U.S. regulations require a flat mirror on the driver's side, so it's unclear how long it will be before we could have such mirrors installed as standard equipment.  I suspect that when these new mirrors become available, they'll first be sold as add-ons. 

On the vehicles Debbie and I drive we have old-fashioned convex mirrors installed as add-ons to the standard mirrors, on both the driver and passenger sides.  In my vehicle, I also have a convex mirror for the inside rear-view mirror.  I hate those blind spots left by flat mirrors, and they are particluarly bad in a large pickup truck like mine...

Quote of the Day...

Today's quote is from John Yoo, currently a professor of law at Berkeley, formerly in G. W. Bush's Justice Department:

Candidate Obama campaigned on narrowing presidential wartime power, closing Guantanamo Bay, trying terrorists in civilian courts, ending enhanced interrogation, and moving away from a wartime approach to terrorism toward a criminal-justice approach. Mr. Obama has avoided these vexing detention issues simply by depriving terrorists of all of their rights—by killing them.

This is from an article Mr. Yoo has in today's Wall Street Journal.

My readers will, I think, be unsurprised to learn that I have no problem with executing, assasinating, murdering, vaporizing, or otherwise killing terrorists.  If the methods used are unsavory or inhumane, that also gives me no problem.  None at all, on either count.  I have more concern about the proprieties of killing cockroaches than I do about some asshole who thinks killing innocent people is ok.

I do, however, have a problem with a president setting himself up as the sole arbiter of who we target for such killings.  There are way too many problems with such an arrangement, not least of which are trusting the accuracy of the information made available to the president and trusting the judgement of the president.  Furthermore, it's not farfetched to note that a logical extension of Obama's process is to use drones in the U.S. to assasinate people here whom the president designates as enemies – with no due process at all, justified as required by the emergency situation.  The opacity and lack of accountability in Obama's chosen “kill list” process is, I believe, simply unacceptable – and downright dangerous.

Mr. Yoo has skin in this argument as a member of the previous administration.  Nonetheless, his point about the far greater transparency and accountability in the Bush administration is well taken – especially given the rhetoric of candidate Obama in 2008...

Reactions to Scott Walker's Victory...

Reader (and fellow Jamulian) Aaron B. sends these three videos along.  The second one is yet another mashup of “the Hitler scene” that has been used in hundreds of these things – but I think this one may be the best one yet.  As Aaron noted in his email to me, it's amazing how fast these videos pop up after some event...

San Diego in the News...

On Tuesday, the voters in the city of San Diego overwhelmingly approved drastic reform for public sector workers' pension plans.  Liberals seem to find this absolutely shocking.  Conservatives are saying “Hallelujah!”  The Wall Street Journal took note in a piece today.

My little flame of hope is glowing brighter...

Estonia in the News...

Estonia has been in the news a lot recently, mainly because of its robust economic performance – by far the best in the Euro-zone.  This doesn't sit well with Paul Krugman (New York Times columnist and alledged economist, thought of by many as the world's most publicly exposed lunatic), because Estonia's stellar performance was accomplished by implementing the exact opposite of Krugman's recommendations.  Basically, Krugman thinks the way out of the economic doldrums in both the U.S. and Europe is to spend, spend, spend – and Estonia achieved its little economic miracle through quaint techniques like limited government, carefully controlled debt, flat taxes, and fostering of a pro-business environment.

In recent days, this little spat has been kicked up a notch – because Toomas Ilves (the President of Estonia) has been lambasting Krugman on Twitter.  I've spent quite a bit of time in Estonia (though I haven't been there for almost 10 years now), and I know quite a few Estonians.  I'm not a bit surprised that Mr. Ilves is right in Krugman's face.  If you read through the posts, you'll see that not only is Mr. Ilves feisty, but he's got a quick wit as well.  But many others seem to be very surprised to see Mr. Ilves defending his country, including, I'd bet, Paul Krugman.  It will be interesting to see whether and how Krugman responds to one of his victims fighting back.  My guess: he'll either not respond, or he'll respond with his classic arrogance.

My longtime readers know that I think Estonia is a very special place.  I've visited there many times, and I've explored the entire country.  Many things make it special in my mind.  Just one of them is the importance of singing to them, and the festival held in Tallinn every five years.  This festival played an important role in Estonia gaining their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, in what has become known as “The Singing Revolution”.  This video gives you a small taste of that.  For more, I recommend watching the excellent documentary The Singing Revolution.

Bumper Snicker...

Seen on I-805 south yesterday afternoon, on a Prius:

To re-elect Obama would be like the Titanic backing up and hitting the iceberg again.

DuhBro Gotta Go!

I don't know what the source of these bumper stickers is, but I'd sure like to start seeing them on the road!  Via my lovely bride: