February 2009
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Right on
John Derbyshire in The American Conservative: Limbaugh and company certainly entertain. But a steady diet of ideological comfort food is no substitute for hearty intellectual fare. More: Taking the conservative project as a whole — limited government, fiscal prudence, equality under law, personal liberty, patriotism, realism abroad — has talk radio helped or hurt?… Continue reading
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Wanted: à la carte HDTV
So our Verizon FiOS home bill has been about $160/month. We were looking to chop that down a bit when I called Verizon this morning. To put it as simply as possible, it’s complicated. What I care about most is keeping the 20/20Mbps down/up Internet service. That’s $69.99/mo. What I don’t care about is POTS,… Continue reading
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And porn soon followed
Says here that sex came along at least 365 billion million years ago. Continue reading
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Magma roots
The problem with “grass roots” as a metaphor is that it reduces its contributors to the miniscopic. Not microscopic, because then you couldn’t see them without a microscope. But miniscopic, meaning they’re small. You have to get down on all fours to eyeball them and say hi. So I’ve been thinking about alternative meaphors where… Continue reading
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Bird traffic, out of control
Between flights in and out of O’Hare last Saturday, I caught this formation of geese flying overhead. Before Flight 1549, this wouldn’t have worried me. Continue reading
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Window blobs
Form the inside of a de-iced plane, it looks like they poured clear syrup all over it. Or so I was reminded when waiting to take off from O’Hare on Saturday night after a snowstorm. What I found, when I tried to shoot pictures through this rippled ooze, was some fun photographic effects. The shot… Continue reading
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Looking over Atlanta
Last week I got some nice aerial photos of Atlanta and its surroundings, shooting from a restaurant rather than a plane. Most of the ones in the set above were taken from the revolving Sun Dial restaurant atop the 73-story Westin Peachtree hotel where I stayed. Some were taken from my room on the 54th… Continue reading
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PBS should become the NPR of TV
I’m sitting at #ima09, at one of the last panels: “Future of Public Media News: A Vision and A Plan.” Leonard Witt is speaking right now, and has a killer proposal: turn PBS into a “news powerhouse.” His case is brief and right-on. Newspapers aren’t the only news organizations that are faltering, he says. Local… Continue reading
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Eat wave
That’s what I’d call the rush to the food spread in the hall at a conference. Continue reading
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Remembering where
Napoleon, North Dakota. Mom‘s home town. By J.D. Speltz, for the town’s 125th anniversary. I remember when she when Mom went to the 75th. Not sure if she went to the 100th. But I do remember how she subscribed for many years to the Napoleon Homestead, which still exists. Continue reading
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Manual transmission
Here at the IMA convention, the band Drivetrain just played. Just two songs. First was an excellent Foggy Mountain Breakdown, followed by an equally excellent vocal (familiar, but don’t know the title), featuring Yvonne. She and the other three members, all on acoustic instruments, are here. Anyway, check ’em out. They’re outstanding. Continue reading
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Bye ‘Bai
I’ve been wondering, What happens to Dubai in a worldwide depresion? Smashing Telly says goodbye. Fun writing. A sample: Dubai is a place for the shallow and fickle. Tabloid celebrities and worn out sports stars are sponsored by swollen faced, botox injected, perma-tanned European property developers to encourage the type of people who are… Continue reading
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Q & Hey
What’s the tweeting protocol? An inquiry at Linux Journal. Lots of good and helpful responses. And thumbs up to Dave’s Where is Twitter’s WordPress? Continue reading
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It’s not like this in Atlanta, but it was like this in Boston a few days ago. So, another photo set of ice on storm windows. And another. Continue reading
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On not skiing
Shows here in EdHat that there’s snow on Mount Baldy. That means there’s skiing in Los Angeles. Or close enough. Mt. Baldy is the highest point in the San Gabriel Mountains, which overlook Los Angeles from the North. Imagine a 10,064 mountain on Staten Island and you get the picture. Skiing on Mt. Baldy is… Continue reading
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Canada’s Smart Immigrant Pevention Plan Draft
Ars: Canadian judge: No warrant needed to see ISP logs? Specifically, “The judge said that there’s ‘no reasonable expectation of privacy’ when it comes to logs kept by ISPs. Canadians, watch out, because everything you do online could soon be turned into legal fodder, even without a warrant.” Well, it certainly is, with a warrant.… Continue reading
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As does the flat Earth
Great mind-opening post by David Reed: …the policy issue is that such systems for multiplexing such EM fields don’t fit the “law of the land” regarding sharing the medium. So, like UWB and spread spectrum underlay, and white spaces, all that capacity will evaporate in attempting to fit the technology into the procrustean bed… Continue reading
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I suggest Gitmo
In the NYTimes: Judges Plead Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youths for Profit. Specifically, for $2.6 million. The sentencing judge has routed five thousand kids to the centers since 2003. The story says the judges are headed for federal prisons. I wonder which ones? Continue reading
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Stimulus Bill Qs
I am confused beyond endurance by whatever-the-hell is going on (or went on) with the “final Stimulus Bill”. So maybe some of ya’ll can provide some A’s to the following Qs: — Where can one see a copy of the final bill? How about in .html, rather than .pdf form? Earth to Newspapers (and… Continue reading