This is a test post. I have another website coming online soon, but it’s having…issues. This is a debugging tool. Feel free to enjoy the music, though.
EDIT: Music gone. Still debugging.
EDIT: Podcast UP!
[display_podcast]
Month: July 2007
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Reshelving Non-Scientific Books
gacked from Pharyngula
Biologist Helping Bookstores has a quest. He reshelves books without a science theme to parts of the book store he feels appropriate.
I’m of two minds about this. My first mind thinks that he’s right; Michael Behe does not belong in the science section any more than Harry Potter does. My other mind thinks that he’s making the bookstore employees’ life a lot more difficult. It’s not up to them (in the chain stores, mind) where the books are shelved. It all comes out of the computer. Thusly, A Brave New World is in Literature, while Laurel K. Hamilton’s books are in Fantasy (Science Fiction and Pornography are more appropriate, respectively).
This is discussed in detail in the comments on BhB’s site. Especially this posting about reshelving in Barnes and Noble.
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This Week in Traffic: 30 July 2007
Transportation Competitions
The Engines Running Onload/Offload competitions were held at McChord Air Force Base in Washington last week. This involves Air Mobility Command ground forces unloading and reloading a cargo aircraft as quickly (and safely) as possible. This reminds me of the Truck Rodeo’s that TxDOT holds every year, where TxDOT maintenace staff compete to see who can operate their vehicles with the most skill and precision.
Frisbee Traffic Calming
More innovative methods for making residential traffic slow down. Similar to the phantom rope pull.
IBM Pontificates on Transpo Solutions
IBM reveals their opinion on 5 advances that will move transportation to a more efficient system.
Fun things to do in Traffic
In Bangalore, you read in traffic jams. I, personally, have witnessed a woman driving 75 mph down Interstate 27 in Texas while reading a paperback. Chris has an image of a man flossing while driving which he sent to the Meandering Starre. What’s next?
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Scientology vs. The Weekly World News
This was gacked from SF Signal
We are all in mourning for The Weekly World News, which will fold its pages soon. Bat Boy will no longer grace our supermarket shelves, and I, for one, will miss him.
But, in case you’ve ever wondered which is weirder, The Weekly World News or the Cult of Scientology, please take this quiz. I scored 80%!
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Favorite Photo of Last Week
The Nephews were in town, so we went to the aquarium. It’s tough taking pictures inside a dark room with lots of blue light coming out of the tanks, but you can get some cool silhouettes.
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End of Drought?
I was going to apologize for not posting anything (barely) for about two weeks, but then I remembered that apologizing-for-not-posting is a total n00b thing to do. At least I thought I remembered, so I went looking for that half-forgotten “10 things not to do on blogs” posting I read many moons ago.
While googling, I found this diatribe, describing why blogs suck, or at least why they are not legitimate writing.
I also re-realized that I am a poster boy for at least half of Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Blog Design Mistakes.
Then Crazy Bob reminded me why apologizing for not posting is a waste of your audience’s feedreader.
And, of course, I found that I was helping to contribute to the downfall of American Journalism.
I never did find that old article instructing me to never post an apology when going through a dry spell, but stuff should be popping up on a more regular basis this week.
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (No Spoilers)
Friday last, Jenn and I waited in line to purchase the last book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The line and the party at our local Barnes & Noble were just as crazy as we expected. An arguably entertaining event were the two guys at the door who were supposedly herding all us cats who regularly contradicted each other’s instructions.
We had our books by 0035 and were heading to the car when I passed a kid wearing a hand-written t-shirt saying “****** kills ****** on page ******.” I have rarely been so angry. I did not, however, drive over him with the car. The spoiler (which was true) at least wasn’t anything horribly surprising.
We read for a few hours, then slept for a few, then were up and reading on the couch. I had the book finished by 1500 and Jenn was done by 1700. So, now it’s over, except for the movies, which don’t count.
How do I feel about it? Right now, a bit drained. It was a marathon reading session and there were aspects of the story that shocked me. But, overall, it was an excellent finish to the series.
For other posts about book 7 or general Potterness, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here
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Broke My Rule
I broke my rule of avoiding all Harry Potter related news. It seemed safe enough, and it turned out to be horribly amusing predictions from someone who doesn’t take the Harry Potter universe very seriously. Definitely worth the read.
The best quote from the whole article is this one, concerning killing off main characters at the end of a series:
Just imagine: At the end of Return of the Jedi, during the celebration on Endor, a young Ewok, drunk on victory and bourbon, carelessly throws a thermal detonator into a bonfire, wiping out the entire main cast. A grateful galaxy is thus spared the pleasures of eighteen-hundred “Expanded Universe” novels and countless slashfic stories where Luke shows a bound and gagged Han Solo what “The Force” is all about.
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This Week in Traffic: 14 July 2007
Installation Piece Causes Traffic Collisions
What the Heck does this Say?
I am not a Biologist, or a Neuroscientist, and therefore can not make heads nor tails of this abstract. Wow. Lots of big words.
Deep Sea Tire Recovery
Divers recover tires that were used to make an artificial reef off of the Florida coast.
Transportation Photography
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"Why I Read Blogs" -or- "Wicked Stuff!"
I have a feedreader, appropriately named Feedreader, which serves up to me on a daily basis a stew of random stuff. Some of this is fluff, some is interesting, some is funny, some is crap, and some is so freaking cool, that I have to pass it along to you.
The reason why I get this deluge of random stuff every day is because, while interested in a lot of different things, I do not have the time to winnow the chaff and come out with the cool stuff on a daily basis. This is why I trust other blogs, such as the one about to be mentioned, to keep me informed.
Thusly we come to today’s topic. I feel slightly silly blogging about it because I happen to know that at least 60% of my readers also read this other blog, but too bad. It’s wicked freaking cool.
Bad Astronomy reports today on a program to engage the public in identifying galaxy types. But don’t take my word for how totally awesome this is, go read it for yourself.