The Evil Eyebrow

Category: Random

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • This Week in Traffic: 9 July 2007

    Neighborhood Traffic Calming

    This demonstration shows what a little ingenuity can get you, with very small expense.

    Pig: It’s Not Just for Eatin’ Anymore

    The very-rarely used upgrade on the Spy Hunter arcade game: Pig Parts!

    Rent-a-Car

    By the hour car rentals in foreign cities. Some observations.

    Continuous Traffic Monitoring

    As the linked article states, continous traffic monitoring is not new. You’ll probably have noticed rectangular or square pavement cuts along the major highways where you live. These detectors are the same as what is used to actuate a traffic signal, but they store different data. The count cars and measure speed and can determine what type of vehicle passed over. The article discusses methods for reducing the cost of operating these continuous count stations. As a tax payer, and an engineer, I’m all for reducing costs while increasing utility and efficiency.

    More Rumblings about Real-Time Traffic

    See here

    Texas Email Hoax

    If you drive in Texas, you can still use your cellphone.

  • Bad Spock Drawings

    Thanks to SFSignal for alerting me to the Bad Spock Drawings website.

    Wow. People will collect anything…

  • Obsenity, Blasphemy, Lewdness, Raunchiness, Vulgarity…

    MarkCC on Good Math, Bad Math has a post relevant to Obscenity.

    I have a post wherein I make my opinion known about the use of certain words.

    I leave it to you, the reader, to form your own. Opinion, that is.

  • This Week in Traffic: 25 June 2007

    Dump the Pump Day

    You missed it. It was Friday last, but if you were in Wichita, you could have gotten an free ride to work.

    Transportation Evolution Discussed

    From the persepective of an Ontario, Canada, small town.

    South Africa is Growing

    Hopefully they will learn some of the lessons that the U.S. did concerning the development of suburbia and how that affects transportation options.

    Traffic Stop Goes Badly

    A New Orleans police officer was dragged 6-8 blocks with his arm caught on an escaping vehicle. Then gets a gun pointed at him. Not a good day for that particular cop. It all turns out well.

  • Biofuel Alternative to Ethanol

    The University of Wisonsin, Madison (great campus) has announced that researchers have been able to derive a fuel source from plant sugars. This fuel has a higher energy density than ethanol, with lower energy requirements for production. This is a good thing, because (some argue) ethanol has a nearly 1:1 energy return. For every erg of energy you get out of ethanol during transportation, you have to put an erg in during production. Compare that to a 25:1 return from gasoline, and you’ll see why I don’t think ethanol is a viable alternative fuel source. Sure, it could subsitute for gasoline, but we will require 25 times more energy production elsewhere, and currently that means more natural gas, oil, or coal burning. Not a good solution. Of course, if we went thoroughly nuclear in our electric generation, we would eliminate a large percentage of primary generation greenhouse gas emissions at the same time we were providing enough surplus energy to produce a less-than-cost-effective fuel. But that is another post.

  • Xkcd to the rescue…

    I have tried to handle comments like the ones exhibited in this day’s xkcd comic. It can be difficult to do, especially in a crowded setting at a public information meeting.

    Thankfully, there are people who can draw it in a manner that makes us engineers feel better.

  • Go Straight to Hell. Do Not Pass Go…

    Jesus will be back, and he’ll be pissed.

  • Kid Kicking?

    I found this advertisement in a home improvement magazine while I was waiting for my lunch to be made. I liked it so much I committed petty larceny by swiping the page.

    Punt your Kid

    Is it just me, or is that mom pissed with that kid?