The various September 11th things that I hear on the radio or see on the TV bug me. Not because I think it’s wrong to remember the dead; I don’t have a problem with the Oklahoma City bombing memorials. No, it’s because the government and the news media have managed, in seven short years, to …
Category Archives: Opinion
Why The LHC Won't Destroy the Earth
There’s been lots of noise this summer about the incipient destruction of the Earth by the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. There’s been scientists quoted as saying, basically, “Yes, there’s a teeny tiny chance that the LHC will produce black holes or quantum strangelets or Evil Elmo, but it’s so small as to be negligible.” …
Why I Despair Sometimes for Technology
I nearly shot Mozilla Thunderbird with my imaginary ray cannon this morning. This is why. I am a hip, with-it, capable-of-adapting, technology person. I am a beneficiary of a middle class American upbringing and a private engineering college education. I have self selected myself into a realm of (moderate) computer skills which assist me in …
I've Been Taken To Task
I posted on Friday about vaccines and my opinion of parents who don’t do use them. Ginger Taylor responded (and snarked at me for not approving her comment fast enough). She makes some points, to which I respond. I want to know what you, my regular readers, think. Am I being a mouthpiece for corporate …
Productivity Systems
Richard from Pantsonfaster.com asks if productivity systems are for everyone? I respond, and not just because he used my images. Just for full disclosure, the image that Richard picked was a doomed experiment. It did not end up working in a manner that was useful. For one thing, the credit cards were nearly impossible to …
Elantris
I finished reading Elantris by Brandon Sanderson today. Review: Good, but a few flaws (some big). I hope his novels get better—this is his first published work—otherwise I might stop reading. I picked up this book because Mr. Sanderson was picked to finish the Wheel of Time (WOT) series in place of the late Robert …
Still Being Nitpicky
While I’m on the topic of critiquing news reports, here’s one from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA, pronounced “nitsa”). Secretary Peters said that in 2007, the overall number of traffic fatalities fell to 41,059, the lowest number since 1994. In addition, the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled was 1.37, the …
Bullshitese
I was reading an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution this morning concerning Georgia’s budget cutbacks. One statement in particular stood out: Sen. Kasim Reed (D-Atlanta), said those new jobs should be reconsidered. “I don’t know any organization that faces the kind of budget challenges we’re facing that doesn’t take a serious look at right-sizing …
Flat Earth
The Bad Astronomer posted about this BBC article, but I just need to chime in. According to the BBC, the idea that the Earth is flat, and not an oblate spheroid, is still alive and well amongst people who are obviously unsuitable for being around my children. Two of the interviewees said: Mr Davis now …
Russia + Georgia = ?
I’ve been paying attention to the Russia/Georgia/South Ossetia war that’s going on and I’m trying to figure out (from my Oh So Worldly knowledge) what Russia’s angle is here. Obviously you don’t go committing a division of troops without a good reason. I don’t know enough about the Republic of Georgia to understand what it …