8/2/14-8/6/14
Saturday August 2, 2014 To DreamHaven Books for Michael Merriam's reading.
DreamHaven had a rack of free books. One I took was The Year 2000, published 1970 (ed. Harry Harrison.) Among glimpses of that future year:
The US and the Soviet Union will have solved their pollution problem, and will be the world's most prosperous countries.
New York City will have a dominant Black majority, and a white minority. And apparently no Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans....
Smoking tobacco will be as respectable as it was in the 1950s.
Some female Australian government employees will go topless at work.
The reading was good. Merriam read from published work, and a bit from his Fringe Festival show.
Tuesday August 5, 2015 The Indonesian Hobbits didn't exist, it seems. New expert analysis of the original skeleton shows Down Syndrome rather than membership in another human species.
***Attended the National Night Out event at Van Cleve Park.
Wednesday August 6, 2014 Minnesota Daily (U of MN student paper; weekly during summer) story on research study at the U which shows female hormones make addiction more likely.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Wednesday July 30, 2014
"According to recordings of the teen's police interrogation, the boy mocked the attacks on the Boston Marathon and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut as 'pretty lame' and 'pathetic' and said he idolized one of the Columbine gunmen.
.......
"However, his father told reporters that he does not believe his son would have carried out the plan and that there were no signs the teen was troubled."
Minnesota Daily (U of MN student paper; weekly during summer), July 30-August 5, page 2.
More on Minnesota police matters. From the Star Tribune Police Blotter, from Chanhassen: "Someone called to report a turtle in their yard in the 8400 block of Stone Creek Drive."
***The August issue of Glamour had a good article on friendship.
They also had a couple of fashion Do and Don't lists with pictures. I mostly preferred the Don'ts to the Dos.
"According to recordings of the teen's police interrogation, the boy mocked the attacks on the Boston Marathon and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut as 'pretty lame' and 'pathetic' and said he idolized one of the Columbine gunmen.
.......
"However, his father told reporters that he does not believe his son would have carried out the plan and that there were no signs the teen was troubled."
Minnesota Daily (U of MN student paper; weekly during summer), July 30-August 5, page 2.
More on Minnesota police matters. From the Star Tribune Police Blotter, from Chanhassen: "Someone called to report a turtle in their yard in the 8400 block of Stone Creek Drive."
***The August issue of Glamour had a good article on friendship.
They also had a couple of fashion Do and Don't lists with pictures. I mostly preferred the Don'ts to the Dos.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Washington Post:
"No, the United States isn't trying to build a military force of
centenarians. It just seems that way after the Selective Service System
mistakenly sent notices to more than 14,000 Pennsylvania men born
between 1893 and 1897, ordering them to register for the nation's
military draft and warning that failure to do so is 'punishable by a
fine and imprisonment.'"
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Thy Glorious Car Spiro Agnew Drew
Saturday May 17, 2014 Frost warning last night. Today I wore sandals.
I saw one college-age man who was shirtless. (But no shirtless women
***Comments of Comment:
Keith Lynch 5/17/14: "Charles ?@NONPROGRAMMABLE 10 Technologies You Will be Witnessing In The Near Future
http://zite.to/1nwB9ig"
10. Artificial Gills
Fish can only get by because they need much less oxygen than mammals.
Also, some water has very little oxygen. Especially water that's comfortably warm. Will this thing give some kind of low-oxygen warning? Does it have an air tank as a backup?
Speaking of air, breathing pure oxygen is dangerous, especially underwater where the pressure is higher. Does this thing also extract appropriate amounts of nitrogen from the water?
8. Sunscreen Pills
The idea of sunscreen is to stop the UV before it hits and damages your skin. How can anything inside you possibly do that?
7. Paper-Thin, Flexible Computers and Phones
Pads, sure, but how would you hold a paper-thin phone? If it's flexible, wouldn't it crumple up? And if it isn't flexible, wouldn't it cut you?
6. Tooth Regeneration
Better than implants only if it's cheaper than implants.
4. Real-Time Google Earth
including real-time Google Street View? :-)
What's the resolution of the thing? Unless it's impossibly high, how would you zoom in? Wouldn't you need a separate camera for each simultaneous user?
If it's to be mounted on ISS, as is suggested, what happens when ISS is deorbited? Last I heard, plans were to do so in about a decade. Possibly much sooner if the Russians take their marbles and go home, as they're threatening to.
3. Wireless Electricity
Tesla had that. Too bad it has such low efficiency, and that it jams the whole radio spectrum and screws with pacemakers, etc.
2. Ultra-High Speed Tube Trains
Maglev, at 4000 miles per hour? Pikers. Make it 18,000 miles per hour and they won't need maglev. You'd be in orbit at ground level.
If weightlessness tends to bother passengers, bring back the maglev and speed it up to 25,000 miles per hour. They'd experience 1G again. And could watch the scenery going by upside down.
Just don't let terrorists anywhere near the thing. If someone breaks the vacuum, the train will burn up like a meteor.
1. Sustainable Fusion Reactor
Thirty years away, just as it always has been.
"ProPublica A haunting #longreads about a heroine addict struggling to get clean:"
I'm not addicted to heroines. Nor to heroes. I can give those novels up anytime I want.
"Top 10 Baby Names for 2013 Source: Social Security Administration Boys Noah ..."
That's disturbing. Maybe I'd better get one of those artificial gills just in case.
Jette Goldie 5/17/14: I dunno what you guys have against those poor wee birdies. What did a Snipe ever do to you that you have to hunt it? ;-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe
***From Twitter:
Dan Goodman @dsgood: Hello. My name is Harry Potter. You killed my parents. Prepare to die. #MASHUP
Dan Goodman @dsgood: Harry, I am your parents.
Science fiction @Scienfiction: These Were The First Female Astronauts In Science Fiction - io9 http://dlvr.it/5hsmlY
I saw one college-age man who was shirtless. (But no shirtless women
***Comments of Comment:
Keith Lynch 5/17/14: "Charles ?@NONPROGRAMMABLE 10 Technologies You Will be Witnessing In The Near Future
http://zite.to/1nwB9ig"
10. Artificial Gills
Fish can only get by because they need much less oxygen than mammals.
Also, some water has very little oxygen. Especially water that's comfortably warm. Will this thing give some kind of low-oxygen warning? Does it have an air tank as a backup?
Speaking of air, breathing pure oxygen is dangerous, especially underwater where the pressure is higher. Does this thing also extract appropriate amounts of nitrogen from the water?
8. Sunscreen Pills
The idea of sunscreen is to stop the UV before it hits and damages your skin. How can anything inside you possibly do that?
7. Paper-Thin, Flexible Computers and Phones
Pads, sure, but how would you hold a paper-thin phone? If it's flexible, wouldn't it crumple up? And if it isn't flexible, wouldn't it cut you?
6. Tooth Regeneration
Better than implants only if it's cheaper than implants.
4. Real-Time Google Earth
including real-time Google Street View? :-)
What's the resolution of the thing? Unless it's impossibly high, how would you zoom in? Wouldn't you need a separate camera for each simultaneous user?
If it's to be mounted on ISS, as is suggested, what happens when ISS is deorbited? Last I heard, plans were to do so in about a decade. Possibly much sooner if the Russians take their marbles and go home, as they're threatening to.
3. Wireless Electricity
Tesla had that. Too bad it has such low efficiency, and that it jams the whole radio spectrum and screws with pacemakers, etc.
2. Ultra-High Speed Tube Trains
Maglev, at 4000 miles per hour? Pikers. Make it 18,000 miles per hour and they won't need maglev. You'd be in orbit at ground level.
If weightlessness tends to bother passengers, bring back the maglev and speed it up to 25,000 miles per hour. They'd experience 1G again. And could watch the scenery going by upside down.
Just don't let terrorists anywhere near the thing. If someone breaks the vacuum, the train will burn up like a meteor.
1. Sustainable Fusion Reactor
Thirty years away, just as it always has been.
"ProPublica A haunting #longreads about a heroine addict struggling to get clean:"
I'm not addicted to heroines. Nor to heroes. I can give those novels up anytime I want.
"Top 10 Baby Names for 2013 Source: Social Security Administration Boys Noah ..."
That's disturbing. Maybe I'd better get one of those artificial gills just in case.
Jette Goldie 5/17/14: I dunno what you guys have against those poor wee birdies. What did a Snipe ever do to you that you have to hunt it? ;-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe
***From Twitter:
Dan Goodman @dsgood: Hello. My name is Harry Potter. You killed my parents. Prepare to die. #MASHUP
Dan Goodman @dsgood: Harry, I am your parents.
Science fiction @Scienfiction: These Were The First Female Astronauts In Science Fiction - io9 http://dlvr.it/5hsmlY
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Beware of Masochists Who Follow the Golden Rule
Wednesday May 14, 2014 Mayo Clinic trial: Massive blast of measles vaccine wipes out cancer
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/259155541.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue
*** To Waite House for NAPS (Nutritional Assistance Program For Seniors) package and produce distribution.
***Comments of Comment:
Denny Lien, May 14 2014: "Retweeted by Molly Ball
Mike Memoli @mikememoli: To Dem charge that select cmte is a 'witch hunt,' Rep. Pete Sessions says: 'That must mean that there's a witch somewhere.'"
What opinion has he re snipe hunts? Or heffalumps?
Keith Lynch, May 14 2014: "MPR News \342\200\217@MPRnews: News Cut: Why your new TV may soon be worthless http://mprne.ws/2GufN7"
It has already been determined that ATSC 3.0 will not be backward-compatible with the current standard, so TV sets in existence today will not work with it.
"TV Technology said the government is not likely to fund any sort of conversion box as it did when it mandated broadcasters begin transmitting with digital signals. 'Consumers then will have to either buy a new TV or subscribe to some type of subscription pay-TV or OTT service,' it said."
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Consumers will get the worst treatment they're willing to put up with. And government is, of course, not on their side.
I'd like to see all ATSC 3.0 content providers go bankrupt, as nobody buys their incompatible content. Further, I'd like to see everyone with a recent TV that stops working return it to the store and demand a full refund. And to take the case to court if the store refuses.
Also see the comments at that URL. (You may need to use wget to get past the "403 Forbidden" error. ATSC is not the only incompatible thing around.)
***From Twitter:
Jennifer Ouellette @JenLucPiquant: Quantum twist could kill off the multiverse: a fresh way of looking at random motions known as quantum fluctuations.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22229692.600-quantum-twist-could-kill-off-the-multiverse.html …
David Brauer @dbrauer: Now called "City Council" #ikidbecauseilove RT @smckenzie21: Downtown Minneapolis once home to eccentric zoo http://www.journalmpls.com/voices-feed/downtown-minneapolis-once-home-to-eccentric-zoo … #mpls
Giant Freakin Robot @GFRobot: Yes, Pope Francis said he would baptize aliens. Find out the details here:
http://bit.ly/1lAVG4S pic.twitter.com/IxhzUyEhJs
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/259155541.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue
*** To Waite House for NAPS (Nutritional Assistance Program For Seniors) package and produce distribution.
***Comments of Comment:
Denny Lien, May 14 2014: "Retweeted by Molly Ball
Mike Memoli @mikememoli: To Dem charge that select cmte is a 'witch hunt,' Rep. Pete Sessions says: 'That must mean that there's a witch somewhere.'"
What opinion has he re snipe hunts? Or heffalumps?
Keith Lynch, May 14 2014: "MPR News \342\200\217@MPRnews: News Cut: Why your new TV may soon be worthless http://mprne.ws/2GufN7"
It has already been determined that ATSC 3.0 will not be backward-compatible with the current standard, so TV sets in existence today will not work with it.
"TV Technology said the government is not likely to fund any sort of conversion box as it did when it mandated broadcasters begin transmitting with digital signals. 'Consumers then will have to either buy a new TV or subscribe to some type of subscription pay-TV or OTT service,' it said."
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Consumers will get the worst treatment they're willing to put up with. And government is, of course, not on their side.
I'd like to see all ATSC 3.0 content providers go bankrupt, as nobody buys their incompatible content. Further, I'd like to see everyone with a recent TV that stops working return it to the store and demand a full refund. And to take the case to court if the store refuses.
Also see the comments at that URL. (You may need to use wget to get past the "403 Forbidden" error. ATSC is not the only incompatible thing around.)
***From Twitter:
Jennifer Ouellette @JenLucPiquant: Quantum twist could kill off the multiverse: a fresh way of looking at random motions known as quantum fluctuations.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22229692.600-quantum-twist-could-kill-off-the-multiverse.html …
David Brauer @dbrauer: Now called "City Council" #ikidbecauseilove RT @smckenzie21: Downtown Minneapolis once home to eccentric zoo http://www.journalmpls.com/voices-feed/downtown-minneapolis-once-home-to-eccentric-zoo … #mpls
Giant Freakin Robot @GFRobot: Yes, Pope Francis said he would baptize aliens. Find out the details here:
http://bit.ly/1lAVG4S pic.twitter.com/IxhzUyEhJs
Friday, May 16, 2014
Sometimes the Dragon Deserves to Win
Saturday May 10, 2014: From Twitter:
Charles @THEANGRYGUMBALL 10 Technologies You Will be Witnessing In The Near Future http://zite.to/1nwB9ig
ProPublica @ProPublica A haunting #longreads about a heroine addict struggling to get clean: http://propub.ca/1qnqcV3 v @nytimes
***From Full Text Reports:
Just Arrived! Top 10 Baby Names for 2013
Posted: 09 May 2014 01:56 PM PDT
Top 10 Baby Names for 2013 Source: Social Security Administration Boys Noah Liam Jacob Mason William Ethan Michael Alexander Jayden Daniel Girls Sophia Emma Olivia Isabella Ava Mia Emily Abigail Madison Elizabeth Filed under: children and families, lists and rankings, Social Security Administration
[Original source http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/]
***Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Blood of the young mouse
JB: <<we have the scientific explanation for the existence of vampires>>
WB: Because they practice safe sucks. We should learn from this.
Charles @THEANGRYGUMBALL 10 Technologies You Will be Witnessing In The Near Future http://zite.to/1nwB9ig
ProPublica @ProPublica A haunting #longreads about a heroine addict struggling to get clean: http://propub.ca/1qnqcV3 v @nytimes
***From Full Text Reports:
Just Arrived! Top 10 Baby Names for 2013
Posted: 09 May 2014 01:56 PM PDT
Top 10 Baby Names for 2013 Source: Social Security Administration Boys Noah Liam Jacob Mason William Ethan Michael Alexander Jayden Daniel Girls Sophia Emma Olivia Isabella Ava Mia Emily Abigail Madison Elizabeth Filed under: children and families, lists and rankings, Social Security Administration
[Original source http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/]
***Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Blood of the young mouse
JB: <<we have the scientific explanation for the existence of vampires>>
WB: Because they practice safe sucks. We should learn from this.
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