Archive for May, 2008

Memorial Day

Memorial Day

| May 25, 2008 | Reply

Hat tip to Michelle Malkin. Courtesy of the Daily Brief: In Flanders Fields In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt […]

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NY Times silently corrects major scientific gaffe in story [UPDATED]

NY Times silently corrects major scientific gaffe in story [UPDATED]

| May 24, 2008 | Reply

[UPDATE (05/26/08): See end of post for the response from the New York Times. Also note that there is now a correction note in place at the end of the article. On the other hand, I haven’t been able to find any news about Fournier actually making the jump yesterday.] This morning (Saturday, 5/24), the […]

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Trend Animator – Now Open Source

Trend Animator – Now Open Source

| May 23, 2008 | 1 Reply

Many folks were very keen on the animated charts we created for the FDIC data on the looming banking problems. The charts are quite similar to the groundbanking work of gapminder.org, which was purchased by Google some time ago, with the promise that their wonderful charting tools would be available “soon”. Since then, we have […]

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Still Waiting For Sunspots

Still Waiting For Sunspots

| May 23, 2008 | Reply

A quick check of space weather shows us that once again the face of the sun is blank – no sunspots. In the past few weeks we have had a few tiny sunspots show up that are part of the last sunspot cycle, but it seems we are still waiting for cycle 24 (the new […]

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Soccer memories

Soccer memories

| May 23, 2008 | Reply

James Lileks on changes in American childhood: I don’t think they had soccer balls in North Dakota until 1981; it was brought in on a special train and placed behind glass and people got to walk around it and get close, if they felt comfortable, and become accustomed to its strange surface. It is faceted, […]

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USA 193 Shoot Down Video

USA 193 Shoot Down Video

| May 22, 2008 | Reply

The US Navy and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization have compiled a nice collection of video from this past winter’s shoot down of a broken NRO satellite known as USA 193. It includes footage aboard USS Lake Erie (the cruiser who took the shot) as well as cameras that show the moment of impact with […]

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Supernova Rare Find Advances Stellar Science

Supernova Rare Find Advances Stellar Science

| May 21, 2008 | Reply

Most people think of stars as constant entities in the sky, seldom changing. In reality the are huge elemental and quantum machines that form, burn their fuel and die. Most die by sputtering out, but large ones sometimes explode in Nova or Supernova bursts. Mankind has witnessed stars exploding in the night sky, but images […]

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Analyzing prison guard dog barks

Analyzing prison guard dog barks

| May 21, 2008 | Reply

My first job out of college (1978-79) was at General Dynamics/WDSC down in San Diego, where I worked on a variety of projects. One such project was an effort to distinguish between wheeled vehicles (like trucks) and tracked vehicles (like tanks) using stand-off radar. It seems the Soviets had built plywood shells that looked like […]

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Descent into madness

Descent into madness

| May 20, 2008 | Reply

OK, so here’s the latest kerfuffle over the Democratic National Convention due here in Denver in a few months: Fried foods are forbidden at the committee’s 22 or so events, as is liquid served in individual plastic containers. Plates must be reusable, like china, recyclable or compostable. The food should be local, organic or both. […]

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Recession Cranking Up In California

Recession Cranking Up In California

| May 19, 2008 | Reply

There are mixed reports in the press about the state of the US economy. While the majority of the national media seems to be rooting for a good economic downturn (perhaps to spice up the election cycle this fall) The data from the government is also somewhat conflicted, perhaps because the powers that be would […]

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