tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192222452011-07-07T13:50:50.578-07:00This is my classic stream-of-consciousness blog designed to avoid clogging my friends' inboxes. We've got your interesting URLs for software development, aviation, the environment, and politics. Plus the odd thought. If you want my real writing, see <a href="http://lupus-in-redbird.blogspot.com">Thoughts Aloft</a>, my <i>other</i> other blog.<p/>lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.comBlogger4061100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-90245937408572389212010-07-09T08:10:00.001-07:002010-07-09T08:17:19.503-07:00

Just passing on Greenwald's latest:First, consider which viewpoints cause someone to be fired from The Liberal Media. Last month, Helen Thomas' 60-year career as a journalist ended when she expressed the exact view about Jews which numerous public figures have expressed (with no consequence or even controversy) about Palestinians. Just weeks ago, The Washington Post accepted the "resignation"

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-26296003101814222202010-02-02T07:46:00.000-08:002010-02-02T09:20:01.796-08:00

H/T Dennis (hi Dennis!) who pointed me to this exceedingly useful set of icons for FTC-mandated blog disclosures, e.g.:The new rules are a bit annoying, sure, but it's actually high time. In the print tech-journo world, it was de rigeur to at least proclaim that the freebies you collected weren't that much, really, and certainly wouldn't influence your judgment. Heavens no!In BlogLand -- by no

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-28317334108024980052009-09-16T08:26:00.000-07:002009-09-16T08:58:56.115-07:00

[This started as a comment to a Facebook thread started by Rick Wirch, who read The Audacity of Hope and said favorable things about it. Got WAY too long for FB!]Coincidentally enough, I graduated from a rather prestigious school of journalism, and spent a good deal of career time in the field. So I know whereof I speak when I say that "the other side" does not exist for journalists working to

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-69693195034303487752009-04-18T07:57:00.000-07:002009-04-18T07:59:56.952-07:00

Hint: He's the guy or gal in the mirror. A very nicely written explication of what kills Americans. Another hint: Terrorism is down in the noise level, below peanut allergies.(Another h/t to Mr. Schneier).

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-1458688663813804852009-04-18T07:53:00.000-07:002009-04-18T07:55:41.720-07:00

Meet...Tweenbots!(h/t Bruce Schneier)

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-60902454635589323132009-04-03T09:19:00.000-07:002009-04-03T09:20:47.562-07:00

This has the potential to be really huge. This research team invented really cool "nantennas" that can turn sunlight into electricity. Yawn? Not so -- they got it to work in IR wavelengths, where traditional photovoltaics perform quite poorly, and they're already achieving 90% efficiency. That's ninety percent, folks.Incident sunlight is a good source of IR, obviously, but with some wavelength

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-91653929523434965892009-03-25T19:39:00.000-07:002009-03-25T19:40:11.873-07:00

Especially if you can see it in 3D. Literally awesome. Such a fabulous piece of movie-making, I hardly thought about the art and craft of it until after it was over, which is going some for an old CG hack like me. Without any Carrie-esque "gotcha" moments, it still scared the crap out of me, deep down where I live. But that wasn't the takeaway message of the movie either.Just please, go see it.(

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-64096028559150800062009-03-24T08:55:00.000-07:002009-03-24T08:56:32.680-07:00

From PZ Myers' excellent Pharyngula. Along with the snail porn and snarks about whingdang fool creationists, this piece on the fate of universities is well worth reading.His point: Legislatures love to cut university funding, because nothing obviously bad happens immediately. So clearly that was wasteful spending. And next year...look, we did it again, and nothing bad happened! ("Bad" meaning "

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-28077896779063604232009-03-23T14:48:00.000-07:002009-03-23T14:49:40.924-07:00

Read this Rolling Stone article by Matt Taibbi on the meltdown, and see if your rage doesn't move you to action. I'm going to see if Tammy Baldwin has read it.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-54478607388209133882009-03-21T10:59:00.000-07:002009-03-21T11:01:58.719-07:00

See my books-read blog (which I'm really, seriously going to start posting to now!) for an item on Clay Shirky's Here Comes Everybody.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-84770697874201121112009-03-21T07:49:00.000-07:002009-03-21T08:21:47.151-07:00

Inpirational messages:Some things are superfluous, after all:The kids admit finally admit that there are advantages to grammar-obsessed parents:

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-61958022109912847992009-03-13T07:40:00.001-07:002009-03-13T07:40:48.902-07:00

Glenn Greenwald, writing in Salon, has a good piece on the abject failure of the major media to investigate the crap-sandwich of lies we've been fed for the past decade on a variety of subjects (e.g. the run-up to the Iraq War, the "Masters of the World" drunk-driving our financial system into collapse). Repeatedly, they merely parroted what the powerful told them, or at best included quotes from

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-19527263046873499512009-02-13T12:46:00.001-08:002009-02-13T12:50:08.619-08:00

Do you fly or love airplanes? Have you joined the Experimental Aircraft Association? Please allow me to invite you to do so.(If need be, I'll do the inviting with a mallet, but I hope you'll just do it.)Aviation advocacy, the whole homebuilding movement (which has been to general aviation progress what open source has to software development), the greatest airshow in the world...EAA really is the

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-17707568782011557612009-02-12T11:11:00.000-08:002009-02-12T11:12:23.475-08:00

...and work in interesting places.Such as, for example, this place, where I work. Just overheard in the hallway:"Oh MY GOD, it's a tsunami of WORMS!"Soil science, boring? I think not.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-82172108121123997562009-01-28T13:26:00.001-08:002009-01-28T13:26:49.682-08:00

A lovely evocation of the importance of scientific thinking to society. Not the fruits of science, the technological toys, but just the habit of thinking in a scientific way. (Free registration at NYT might be required).

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-22482312592717990822009-01-19T20:13:00.001-08:002009-01-19T20:13:45.519-08:00

But y'know, PunditKitchen has a real point here.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-84164261269317097692009-01-17T11:05:00.000-08:002009-01-17T11:08:11.673-08:00

Go to Lolcats. You won't be sorry.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-29488442258357835452009-01-17T10:50:00.001-08:002009-01-17T10:54:05.415-08:00

In the sense that The Onion is "America's finest news source", that is.Here is Juan Cole, always worth reading but never more so than in this eloquent flagellation of Bush, and of us for (re-) electing and tolerating him.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-41047501185083169872009-01-12T08:50:00.001-08:002009-01-12T08:50:38.223-08:00

I've been starting to teach myself Scala for a couple of reasons. One is that Programming in Scala is a Jolt finalist; another is that, pursuant to the Pragmatic Programmers' advice, I try to combat brain ossification by picking up a new language (preferably one orthoganal to my current knowledge inventory) every so often; and, finally, like just about everybody else who does sizable computations

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-50935643634637491922009-01-10T21:12:00.000-08:002009-01-10T21:21:14.525-08:00

Garrett Epps, writing in the Atlantic Monthly, comes right out of the gate with the title: "The Founders' Great Mistake". His thesis: That our revered Founding Fathers basically screwed the pooch when they created the office of the Presidency, and that their foulup is fixable.Some of his "modest proposals" include:Making the office of Attorney General independently elected, not beholden to the

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-41419368020917233072009-01-10T20:55:00.000-08:002009-01-10T20:57:56.283-08:00

I am still having a really hard time believing I saw this.Some people like to be close to death.Some people are really, really good.These guys are both. I didn't notice any big rust-colored splotches on these cliffs, but they had to be there.wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-29999697229041950462009-01-08T18:34:00.001-08:002009-01-08T18:34:01.628-08:00

I mean, it's so tacky it's got to be in America.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-25897508206380411492009-01-06T21:35:00.001-08:002009-01-06T21:39:12.751-08:00

Wow, and I thought Jobs wasn't going to keynote MacWorld! Here's the scoop (video):Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-72451900562320626922009-01-06T21:33:00.001-08:002009-01-06T21:34:58.108-08:00

This is not that rant. This is that rant (over at lupus-IN-redbird.blogspot.com).

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-12613939718335311132008-12-14T09:08:00.001-08:002008-12-14T09:08:16.908-08:00

You've probably already heard that the U.S. spends more per capita on health care than any other developed nation.(Source: "Why Does U.S. Health Care Cost So Much?", Uwe Reinhardt, New York Times, 14 Dec 2008)But by any objective measure of performance -- infant mortality, disease morbidity, just about anything except for the coddle-care of the superrich -- we lag countries much poorer than

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-82515896792042300122008-12-09T12:56:00.001-08:002008-12-09T12:56:19.222-08:00

What really gets me is that if you look closely, it's an ad for funeral services:

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-36155995809297220572008-12-08T07:14:00.000-08:002008-12-08T07:16:00.574-08:00

I give you...Chiron Beta Prime Christmas Lights!

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-8645602096902448342008-12-04T14:29:00.001-08:002008-12-04T14:30:48.806-08:00

Well, it made ME laugh...

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-76269807816417314942008-12-01T10:06:00.001-08:002008-12-01T10:06:52.040-08:00

Sometime during the latter stages of the presidential campaign, my eight-year-old daughter found a way to characterize all the promises being made -- and the hazy fulfillment conditions --  into one snappy line. Now she uses it as a magic charm whenever something looks really unlikely or difficult. I'm going to start using it in software meetings to replace rapid hand-waving:...then everyone gets

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-67696453941311956702008-11-27T06:48:00.001-08:002008-12-04T14:29:37.790-08:00

If your mental image of "Muslim" is that of some grimy wacko in the Pakistan Federated Areas (unlikely, if you read this blog), or if your idea of "queen" is some teddibly plucky, frighteningly ancient Britisher...have I got a mind-bender for you.It's Queen Rania of Jordan, accepting an award for her YouTube channel (told you!), and riffing on Letterman's Top Ten list as she does so. Tip o'

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-50192149100123456302008-11-26T08:29:00.001-08:002008-11-26T08:29:04.233-08:00

Here's an interesting bit from Nate Silver, he of fivethirtyeight.com, where he analyzes the implications of Obama's Cabinet appointments -- many of which have made the left wing howl in protest -- against his declared policy goals. He classifies those latter into three groups (domestic policy, economics, and foreign/military) and cross-classifies them on a progressive to center-right

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-77275976001589951472008-11-06T14:38:00.001-08:002008-11-06T14:42:24.763-08:00

I liked the "morning in America" meme so much I decided to exploit it for cash.(Well, not very much cash.)Anyway, if you'd like a T-shirt or bumper sticker that proclaims it, see http://www.cafepress.com/rick_redbird.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-21609212548687319932008-11-05T08:04:00.000-08:002008-11-05T08:05:58.419-08:00

(Bet you never thought you'd see that headline out of me!)Reagan was right, but he was twenty-eight years too early.Today is when it's morning in America, baby.Wa-hoo!

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-31731585901805144062008-11-04T21:38:00.001-08:002008-11-04T21:38:09.622-08:00

Well, not really that last one. If Cheney really gave a rat's patootie about McCain, he would have either endorsed him much earlier and more publicly, or shut the **** up.Anyway, I don't want to be petty, not after that glorious speech. Just three moments I want to share with you:When McCain mentioned Obama, his crowd booed. When Obama mentioned McCain, his crowd applauded. Listlessly, true, but

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-22719669519750642632008-11-04T08:46:00.001-08:002008-11-04T08:46:32.674-08:00

Wish I'd taken a photo, but I didn't want the pollwatchers to come down on me. I dropped the kid off at elementary school this morning and went straight to the polls, which had been open for all of 40 minutes.We vote at a high school, and the usual setup is a tiny little arts room with all of five little marking booths, four little old ladies, and a scanning machine. I've had to wait for three or

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-82291569892306776892008-11-03T20:19:00.001-08:002008-11-04T07:27:57.978-08:00

...people who want company when they go to meet the devil? Sheesh!This photo is from a series on the Sports Illustrated site, and was taken by Jessica Klutemeier for SI. Once a year the New River Gorge bridge -- some 800-plus feet above the river -- is opened for these, um, courageous souls. I've actually rafted under that bridge, though not when this was going on.Other exciting things were,

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-87857723421973126222008-11-02T19:20:00.001-08:002008-11-02T19:20:40.571-08:00

Our  neighborhood: Political much?

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-89920262760639192372008-10-31T11:19:00.001-07:002008-10-31T11:21:04.543-07:00

This hilarious cartoon on the VP selection process bills itself as "a cautionary tale".A guffaw-tionary tale, is more like it. See Adam Peltzman's column in Salon for more good stuff.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-38981800493808796282008-10-29T09:51:00.001-07:002008-10-29T09:51:27.693-07:00

Alexa Weber Morales titled her blog entry for this video "Brought Tears to My Eyes":

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-9037514829461036712008-10-28T20:20:00.001-07:002008-10-28T20:20:08.062-07:00

Seriously, dude, you need to go there.Shout to my lovely wife, who turned me on. To the site. (Ahem.)Example:

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-19354497534484972222008-10-28T06:55:00.001-07:002008-10-28T06:55:28.868-07:00

You will never guess the provenance of this quote:My friends, we are not the sum of our possessions. They are not the measure of our lives. In our hearts we know what matters. We cannot hope only to leave our children a bigger car, a bigger bank account. We must hope to give them a sense of what it means to be a loyal friend, a loving parent, a citizen who leaves his home, his neighborhood and

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-69326028626139260112008-10-27T15:50:00.000-07:002008-10-27T15:53:17.833-07:00

Leaders like Van Jones still exist.Interviewed about his take on how the green tech revolution could also be made an inclusive social revolution, he said:My hope is that there will be a governing majority ... that is bipartisan, built around a new center of gravity that says, we want the U.S. to be the world leader, but not in war and pollution and incarceration rates.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-18706761559878507262008-10-21T20:28:00.000-07:002008-10-21T20:43:36.806-07:00

Reading Juan Cole's blog "Informed Comment", I came across a link to a piece by Jonathan Landay tracing McCain's philosophical journey from pragmatist to neocon, which Landay argues was complete before Bush II ever took office.In the latter article, there's a link to McCain-Palin campaign's "National Security" topic page. I couldn't resist commenting on how much the campaign doc talks about

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-54919733560119029712008-10-17T10:02:00.001-07:002008-10-17T10:02:07.016-07:00

Chris Kelly in HuffPo, quoting Jack Kemp on the flat tax:This new surge of capital would end the credit crunch, and allow old businesses to expand and new ones to start. Wages would grow, along with the overall economy. And as the world invested in America, the dollar would strengthen, as happened in response to the tax cuts that generated the 1980s Reagan boom. This would ease inflationary fears

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-74813683992834346362008-10-16T20:50:00.001-07:002008-10-16T20:53:42.764-07:00

At the traditional Al Smith Dinner tonight, McCain and Obama got some good zings in on each other, but in a much funnier, much more respectful tone than the one we've grown used to. Obama, for example, closed with:I want to especially say a word of thanks to Senator McCain, we're in the middle of a tough battle right now; American politics at the presidential level is always tough. But I've said

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-73206603351612191822008-10-16T18:18:00.000-07:002008-10-16T18:19:27.750-07:00

From MSNBC's First Read, quoting Obama at an event this morning:For those of you who are feeling giddy or cocky and think this is all set, I just say one word. I guess it’s two words for you: New Hampshire. You know, I’ve been in these positions before where we were favored and the press starts getting carried away and we end up getting spanked. And so that’s another good lesson that Hillary

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-78166902738725457182008-10-16T09:30:00.001-07:002008-10-16T09:30:48.142-07:00

Jonathan Schwarz (writing in This Modern World), says he doesn't post pictures that happen to show people caught in embarrassing poses.Well, except for this time.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-77965389213261413272008-10-14T17:41:00.000-07:002008-10-14T17:45:02.829-07:00

I am a lucky, lucky man to have friends like the inestimable Warren Keuffel, who sends along this wordless little analogy problem:

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-35124901334296001312008-10-14T09:21:00.001-07:002008-10-14T09:21:57.413-07:00

From Electoral-vote.com's "News From the Votemaster", discussing Paulson's sudden about-face from "Buy toxic debt, don't buy equity" to "What numb-nuts ever thought just buying up the debt would work":Government ownership of the banks is a hallmark of socialism, of course. Who would have thought that the October surprise was for the Bush administration to come out of the closet and become overt

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-50149176819589086382008-10-13T07:14:00.001-07:002008-10-13T07:14:28.829-07:00

Phil S. (shout) embedded this priceless message in an email this morning, for no other apparent reason than his mission to make his fellow Ski Patrollers laugh.Or groan. He is all about the groaner puns, this man.Anyway, it made my morning: Kicking And Screaming

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-12018969586920918052008-10-10T12:09:00.001-07:002008-10-10T12:12:25.443-07:00

The Economist has one of those red/blue maps that we've all grown tired of -- except that this one is for countries, not U.S. States.It's a blue planet, folks. Well, except for Georgia, where they really like John McCain.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-70775807828573784262008-10-07T08:00:00.000-07:002008-10-07T08:03:39.110-07:00

Adam Kernan-Schloss, writing in Huff Post:I understand all of that, but for the life of me, I don't get it whenpeople say they want someone just like them to be president.The mayor of Scranton recently said about Obama: "They don't know him. Who'd you want to have a beer with? Who'd you leave your kids with?" Huh? I'm not looking for a beer buddy or a baby sitter. I'm looking for a president who

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-20894230511790242992008-10-05T11:57:00.000-07:002008-10-05T11:59:56.118-07:00

Ow. Gloves coming off now:In its broad strokes, McCain's life story is oddly similar to that of the current occupant of the White House. John Sidney McCain III and George Walker Bush both represent the third generation of American dynasties. Both were born into positions of privilege against which they rebelled into mediocrity. Both developed an uncanny social intelligence that allowed them to

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-91257664365048487572008-10-03T18:58:00.000-07:002008-10-03T19:09:50.160-07:00

This is a beautifully written piece. Want to feel good about our next President? Read it. It gives me hope. We can elect this guy, you know. We're better than the last eight years, better than the Gingrich Congress, better than Iran-Contra and NAFTA and Vietnam and Chile and the Missile Gap rhetoric that led to thousands of nukes waiting for terrorists to pick them up.We are, after all, the

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-56379051973987074762008-10-03T09:19:00.000-07:002008-10-03T09:26:39.702-07:00

Pepper-spraying the armored-car guard: Nasty.Making an escape downriver on an inner tube: Hilarious.Bamboozling a dozen dress-alikes into decoying pursuit: Priceless.Got away with "a large amount" of cash, even though cops were on-scene in two minutes!

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-45054970884712401082008-10-03T09:07:00.000-07:002008-10-03T09:12:43.307-07:00

Shout-out to my lovely wife, who sent me this gem (audio here) from Clive James. I'm guessing that she came upon it via Scalzi's Whatever.WRT Scalzi, he'd mentioned that he was planning to move the blog to another provider, and sure enough it 500s when I try it. Hopefully it'll be back up by the time you read this.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-9185248594951894722008-10-02T20:11:00.000-07:002008-10-02T20:15:43.808-07:00

Oliver Burkeman of the Guardian, describing the rules of his drinking game for the Biden-Palin debate:One drink whenever you happen to remember the phrase "a heartbeat away from the presidency." And in the interests of balance: a drink, too, whenever Palin makes a well-argued, semantically intact, logical and lucid argument -- or WASILLA for short.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-83283726154848254542008-10-02T19:46:00.000-07:002008-10-02T19:55:51.431-07:00

From the transcript: I do take issue with some of the principle there with that redistribution of wealth principle that seems to be espoused by you.-- Sarah Palin, 2 Oct. 2008I tell ya, it's Dubya in heels. The Governor is simply amazing -- I am awestruck. This is the office held by Adams, Jefferson, Nixon, Gore, after all. So we're going to put someone in it who, after eight years of hearing the

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-34834705710331227292008-10-02T19:38:00.000-07:002008-10-02T19:41:11.082-07:00

Let me reiterate:McCain is 72He's a cancer survivorThe actuarial odds of a President Palin are, what, 1 in 7 in the first term?And in tonight's debate, she pronounced it..."nucular."No, thanks. Already bought that brand once.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-14822311699930520892008-10-02T09:58:00.001-07:002008-10-02T10:33:53.725-07:00

The 19th annual Jolt Awards are open for nominations. In my totally unbiased opinion as a judge since 2001 and a longtime writer for the Jolts' former home (Software Development magazine, of fond memory; Dr. Dobbs owns the Jolts now), the Jolts are the Emmys or Oscars of development tools.Maybe I'm a little biased as to the Jolts' value. OK, a ton biased.But insider knowledge, in this case, also

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-74404821259328149762008-09-30T14:39:00.000-07:002008-09-30T14:40:40.381-07:00

Kate Clinton, closing out a piece in Huff Post:I predict gay marriage will stand in CA. The zeitgeist will be: Oh for god's sake, it's the end of the world, let the gay people get married.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-74617544133795055872008-09-30T14:10:00.000-07:002008-09-30T14:26:22.865-07:00

I think these pictures pretty well sum it up, don't you?See the video. It's a little dated now -- I can't wait to see what they'll do with Palin -- but still funny.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-79716294410452731542008-09-28T11:20:00.001-07:002008-09-28T11:21:17.475-07:00

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-89124214646245409012008-09-26T07:32:00.001-07:002008-09-26T07:32:29.081-07:00

A very interesting little essay on Toffler's old concept of "Future Shock" and how it affects our political world.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-7158091567708338822008-09-19T09:39:00.001-07:002008-09-19T09:39:13.983-07:00

OMG.This is worth watching, as an object lesson in case you ever were tempted to drive through floodwaters.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-379861559809132682008-09-19T09:06:00.001-07:002008-09-19T09:06:42.883-07:00

ARRRRR!You need to go to Woot and listen to today's podcast. Really. Trust me on this one.It's a Bluetooth product today (of course).And the podcast is another Bluetooth shanty (of course).And the shanty is all about TLAPD! It's hilarious.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-19346260111245889772008-09-18T07:55:00.001-07:002008-09-18T07:55:43.716-07:00

A commenter in Talking Points Memo sez:One metaphor the Democrats don't use, that I think of over and over when I hear Obama speak about the need for regulation: the markets operate like team sports -- like say, a football game. Team sports don't operate well without referees, and that's exactly what's happened under the Republicans.Read more

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-12505624349015109992008-09-18T07:46:00.001-07:002008-09-18T07:46:13.696-07:00

Yesterday, John McCain actually said that if he's president, he'll take on, and I quote -- 'the old boys network in Washington.' I'm not making this up. This is somebody who's been in Congress for twenty-six years -- who put seven of the most powerful Washington lobbyists in charge of his campaign -- and now he tells us that he's the one who's gonna take on the old boys network. The old boys

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-46445733331208384842008-09-17T09:00:00.001-07:002008-09-17T09:00:08.499-07:00

A spate of columns in the MSM and blogosphere about the outright falsifications coming out of McCain-Palin (and their tenacious refusal to retract when called on them).For me, Jared Bernstein in Huff Post nails it. Not moral outrage (though there's that), not our-guy-is-angelic, just this:They're telling lies, and liars make fatal leaders.Science fiction author John Scalzi also goes right to the

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-55044817031099397252008-09-16T19:31:00.000-07:002008-09-16T19:32:51.996-07:00

Profane, yes. But hilarious.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-63529385339725945282008-09-12T06:20:00.001-07:002008-09-12T06:23:40.194-07:00

The same guys who brought you Diet Coke and Mentos have a new video out, this one using Post-It notes.280,000-plus Post-it notes. Eepybird's Sticky Note Experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-12981753474235527742008-09-10T12:17:00.001-07:002008-09-10T12:17:03.717-07:00

Brilliant!

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-60222850273666397562008-09-09T12:12:00.001-07:002008-09-09T12:12:45.161-07:00

From "New Rules":You know, today is the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. And to the people still struggling in New Orleans and places like it, John Edwards was to the poverty issue what Al Gore was to global warming. He was their voice. The author of the Democrats' health care plan, and a Marriott Rewards Points Leader. And it's sad he could no longer represent them. It's also sad that one

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-11635715090940430712008-09-09T07:51:00.000-07:002008-09-09T07:51:00.662-07:00

This from Colleen Lindsay, commenting in John Scalzi's blog:Best Sarah Palin comment I’ve seen so far comes from the Billings Gazette:“Gun toting, bible thumping, failed beauty queen with a knocked up out of wedlock teenage daughter!!! Jesus Christ! Why don’t they just pull a double wide up to the White House and call it a day.”

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-67994828324889535122008-09-05T10:04:00.001-07:002008-09-05T10:04:09.117-07:00

And it's a damned important one, too, even if Chicken Little doesn't ski:

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-32492234311313706392008-09-05T10:00:00.001-07:002008-09-05T10:00:25.032-07:00

From Engrish.com (captioned "I Always Wondered Where The Grinch Lived"):

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-13511612701362322802008-09-04T07:38:00.000-07:002008-09-04T07:40:01.166-07:00

Holy crap:If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation," he said, "they will be pursued, not out of vengeance, not out of retribution - out of the need to preserve the notion that no one, no one, no attorney general, no president, no one is above the law-- Joseph Biden, 3 September 2008

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-90824820365867049662008-08-22T14:36:00.001-07:002008-08-22T14:36:07.821-07:00

From Jonathan Schwarz, in Tom Tomorrow's blog:I believe human civilization will likely—despite current appearances—manage to mitigate global warming and survive. I have about ten reasons for this. One of them is that this is one of the few political issues in which the Sane Billionaires are on the progressive side.Almost all political conflict, especially in the US, boils down to a fight between

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-87051214668337113632008-08-21T09:56:00.000-07:002008-08-21T09:57:58.054-07:00

Sydney Morning Herald: A 23-year-old PhD student develops tech for baking cheap solar cells in pizza ovens. Yeah!

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-28371164435172826402008-08-21T08:21:00.000-07:002008-08-21T08:22:35.605-07:00

Some of Maxis's proof-of-concept prototypes for Spore; these are playable little mini-games.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-48300003234314967272008-08-20T14:10:00.001-07:002008-08-20T14:11:04.013-07:00

Casting choices for a movie about the process.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-43049245117445932662008-08-20T10:55:00.000-07:002008-08-21T08:25:15.838-07:00

Moved to Thoughts Aloft.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-67679801137845769222008-08-20T09:23:00.001-07:002008-08-21T08:18:51.787-07:00

I knew what this was going in, and still went "WOW!"

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-80260048721542490792008-08-06T09:48:00.001-07:002008-08-06T09:48:10.582-07:00

You must watch this video. Honest. The woman has paid America back for all the attention and bucks we've pumped her way, in one minute and fifty-one seconds. She's "totally ready to lead".

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-52291514062615640822008-08-06T09:31:00.001-07:002008-08-06T09:31:33.285-07:00

Cue India and China.On the same day on which Lawrence Lessig reminds us that (a) the DoJ had the Patriot Act waiting in a drawer for the pretext of 9/11, and (b) there's probably a cyber equivalent in the same drawer, IBM has been granted a U.S. patent for...prepare your mind to be blown by the sheer brilliance...remembering whether a grocery store customer prefers paper or plastic.Shakespeare

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-83137453730112548542008-08-05T07:58:00.000-07:002008-08-05T08:11:21.822-07:00

Went to Rock Island State Park this weekend with the Boy Scouts. Love that place.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-5727808785772390392008-08-01T12:44:00.001-07:002008-08-01T12:44:20.251-07:00

These links may or may not work if you're outside academia (thanks Phil!):http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/rapidpdf/1162018v1.pdf for online articleandhttp://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/321/5889/620.pdf for 1-pg discn in print versionhttp://www.physorg.com/news136738014.html

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-35917965905976284622008-08-01T10:04:00.001-07:002008-08-01T10:04:50.951-07:00

From Computerworld:IBM software acts as human memory backupApplication collects and organizes images, sounds and text from everyday life for later useJuly 31, 2008 (Computerworld) Ever try to remember who you bumped into at the store a few days back? Or exactly what the company president said at the morning meeting?Well, you're not alone. And IBM researchers are working on software that just may

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-88913044131494435482008-07-31T11:45:00.000-07:002008-07-31T11:45:01.026-07:00

The details of the attack are somewhat beside the point, but the real issue is that your ISP may be compromised, sending you to attackers' pages masquerading as real ones. AT&T is known to have suffered a successful attack.It's a serious problem. The Register has an article on the problem that includes links to test whether your ISP is in fact vulnerable to the attack (if it's already compromised

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-81687853734942009212008-07-30T09:17:00.001-07:002008-07-30T09:17:17.598-07:00

Well, Oshkosh yesterday was mostly about the kids, with whining the central focus of activity. Still, we did manage to see a couple of cool things, such as the Icon LSA folding its wings. You can either have the amphibian option or the automatic wing-fold, but weight prevents including both. At first I thought it was a roadable A/C, but I was confusing it with Terrafugia's Transition, which was

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-20247387595467285252008-07-30T08:49:00.001-07:002008-07-30T08:49:48.849-07:00

A Photoshop contest on Gizmodo.com led to a brilliant Van Gogh piece. YMMV, but I laughed out loud.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-40199372805228410332008-07-30T07:59:00.001-07:002008-07-30T07:59:01.848-07:00

Via Schneier's blog: A free, privacy-enhanced open source laptop tracker (à la Back to My Mac, but without needing to trust a central server or vendor).Adeona

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-27425228747272009692008-07-12T10:57:00.001-07:002008-07-12T11:09:45.274-07:00

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-25518542337158906142008-07-07T12:27:00.001-07:002008-07-07T12:27:10.820-07:00

From a review of PilotView, the put-you-in-the-cockpit video setup (thanks Jim!):Upon opening the box you are greeted with an impressive collection of wires, adapters, and other intimidating stuff. There is also a manual telling you what all these wires are for, and if you're a girly-girl, you'll read it. We, being manly-men, lost it.

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-41860920802776113652008-06-27T13:53:00.001-07:002008-06-27T13:53:48.980-07:00

The Reg has a really nice article on Prof. David J C MacKay's new book in progress, analyzing the options for Britain's energy needs into the future. The article quotes a lot of conclusions, rather than delving into the numbers, but it's a very thoughty read.Heavyweight physics prof weighs into climate/energy scrap [printer-friendly] | The Register

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-60521554939598042732008-06-26T13:50:00.001-07:002008-06-26T13:50:50.991-07:00

Read the daily reports on what to do to counter high gas prices, andyou'll see the importance of magic in US energy strategy. A richvariety of schemes have been put forward, literally within weeks of thegas crunch, delivered with the traditional slogan that occurs to everyeditorial writer who believes children's fairy tales about Americaningenuity and exceptionalism.There must be a new Manhattan

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-21114201390130802712008-06-24T08:19:00.001-07:002008-06-24T08:19:29.674-07:00

Dana Milbank's Washington Post article on a speech in Washington by James Hansen, the NASA guy famously muzzled by the Bush Administration when his science didn't agree with their worldview.Along with the expected (we're heading for a collision with climatic catastrophe), Hansen managed to say something completely novel to me: It doesn't matter, in the long run, whether we clamp down on carbon

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-83407960480657723422008-06-23T09:58:00.001-07:002008-06-23T09:58:51.203-07:00

A little baseball, a little parkour...this ball girl makes an incredible snag of a foul ball that had to be 10 or 12 feet off the ground!Wow!

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-78085036743824684222008-06-17T17:36:00.000-07:002008-06-17T18:17:06.712-07:00

We were just up at Lake Delton/Wisconsin Dells, home of the famous Tommy Bartlett Ski Show (and many, many other tourist attractions).TB & Co aren't doing so great. OK, so Mr. Bartlett has been dead ten years, we wouldn't expect his customary perkiness anymore, but "his" lake isn't doing a whole lot better.'Twas on the national news, so perhaps you've seen it; the dam that created the lake held

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19222245.post-20030191328642762922008-06-06T13:21:00.000-07:002008-06-06T13:22:51.947-07:00

Silverlight is going to support Ruby as a browser scripting language alternative to JavaScript, reports eWeek.Woo-ha!

lupushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13871665628816481953noreply@blogger.com0