Rusted Sky

Your First Glimpse Of Matt Smith's New Doctor In Action - Doctor Who - io9

Looks like it's going to be a fun run. Each new actor brings a new perspective to the Doctor - and this one being a bit younger than the norm seems more action-adventure oriented. Guess we'll see - I'm still waiting for the second half of "The End Of Time'...

J.

Surgery Museum Makes You Grateful for Any Modern Healthcare Whatsoever | Raw File

When you consider the standards of sanitation, and the anesthetics available - the pictured 'surgical kits' are cringe-inducing. We've come a long, LONG way in the last 50 years or so.

Let's hope we can keep going forward, and not back to a level where the ophthalmic surgery kit would be considered high tech! (And let's not even consider the hemorrhoid kit... Shudder...)

J.

Your Next Cellphone Might Have a 14.6MP Sensor and Shoot 1080p Video - Omnivision 14.6mp sensor - Gizmodo

Gads.

Well, after James Y. showed me the Tricorder app on his new Android phone, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, should I? Using the phone's internal sensors to measure gravity and magnetic fields?

Ah, the wonders we have!

Now the question arises, as it probably has to you - what's next? And how do we keep it from coming apart at the seams?

J.

Why? Well, when your friends eyes glaze over, you're taking things a little too seriously. When you take a BREAK from it, and your blood pressure goes down, then it's seriously time to cut back.

So I've been trying to cut back on the political stuff, and it's not quite as hard as I thought it would be...

Here ya go! Don't know if you're a Good Eats fan or not, but it's a hilarious culinary show.

And there's an interview --- Alton Brown: Safe and Scary Kitchen Hacks - alton brown - Gizmodo

Enjoy!

J.

The Fleet Type Submarine Online

Lots of info on old-time Diesel sub mechanisms. The Model S freshwater distiller's a nice piece of work, as is the descriptions of the air conditioning system, and air systems...

Man, it's amzing what you can cram into a hull, and leave room for both crew, supplies, and weaponry. We've been in the USS Drum, and that thing was so cramped I couldn't believe it. Guess the Sub Service kind of self-selects for claustrophilia, doesn't it?

Brave folks in those things...

J.

I liked Cars - it's a very entertaining film and gives me a good bit of entertainment trying to figure out how the Cars world came to be from a logical standpoint. (Yeah, I know logic doesn't have anything to do with it - but it's fun nonetheless...)

Now it looks like there's going to be a sequel?

The Pixar Blog: Cars 2 to be subtitled World Grand Prix?

Hmmm. Seems to me like it was a pretty complete movie as it was - but Pixar DOES seem to be able to pull off decent sequels (when they do them - the Toy Story franchise is the only one I know where they did a second and they're doing a third.) though the sequel didn't have the same 'magic' for me as the first did. (Will the 3rd? I don't know.)

The magic of Pixar is a combination of characters, scenery and story - like any film. In Cars, they hit the right notes. Can they do it again with Cars 2?

J.

I've really got no dog in the fight re the AGW stuff - but one thing that's always seemed self-evident to me is that there's a central furnace in the middle of our solar system providing heat to all the planets, and we don't have a handle on how to control THAT thermostat. If the solar output goes up a bit - we'll roast. If it goes down, you get a Little Ice Age - or a big one.

Yet all along, it seems like solar input in the AGW 'proofs' has been seen as a constant - to the point where things like the MWP and the LIA are 'adjusted' out of the graphs because the excursions from a calculated baseline weren't credible by the models they were using.

And it's probably just some odd coincidence that the MWP saw more sunspots, and the LIA saw less. A LOT less.

Well, for the last few years we've been seeing a LOT fewer sunspots. And thanks to advances in modern technology, we can now measure the magnetic activity of the sun, and (semi-directly) the solar output.

One theory that seems about to be proven is one by a scientist by the name of Svensmark - that cosmic ray activity affects cloud formation. The more activity, the more clouds, the higher the albedo of the earth (IE the more heat is reflected) and the cooler the earth gets. There's quite a bit of evidence for it - and things like the old-fashioned cloud chambers used by physicists in the latter part of the 19th Century on shows that clouds CAN be formed by the passage of active particles.

One little thing - the higher the solar wind flux, the fewer the cosmic rays. And right now... well...

Solar geomagnetic index reaches unprecedented low - only "zero" could be lower - in a month when sunspots became more active « Watts Up With That?

See this? I believe it's London. Picturesque, isn't it? Doesn't it look like something out of a Dickens novel's frontplate? (The traffic lights are a trifle anomalous, though.)

Wouldn't it look good in Miami? It might be coming sooner than we think...

Global warming? We may well be praying for it before much longer.

J.

David Freddoso: Time to abolish TSA as we know it | Washington Examiner

Which is harder: For an uninvited guest to sneak into a state dinner at the White House, or for a properly ticketed passenger to board an airplane?

You're not alone if you have to think about your answer. Despite that, the airplane in question will not necessarily be safe.

It's a lot like the AGW controversy. We're told that it's a crisis, that there's no time to delay, that everything depends on adopting green energy ASAP, that the only way to keep us from boiling in our own juices is to immediately reduce our CO2 emissions.

And look at what happens when it's actually tried... Windmill farms get cancelled, solar power plants find the land they were going to build on suddenly becomes part of a Federal Reserve, protecting the wildlife and the scenic vistas.

You see the same thing in reverse with the TSA. It's a magnificent act, designed to LOOK like it's effective... and 'impartial'. All are treated equally badly. And yet when it comes to actually intercepting the attempts it's a magnificent act, designed to present the sincere APPEARANCE of them caring about stopping any hijackers.

Or bombers.

Or whatever's next.

Especially those grannies - you never know when one's gonna go all ninja, pull out a knitting needle and take over a plane...

We're spending billions of dollars a year on TSA. And the only results seem to be a security system with a rather imperious disregard for the actual traveler, and a complex process that instills in the average joe a low-level smoldering anger.

This might actually be intentional, there's nothing like a plane of people who are ALREADY ticked off to take a prospective hijacker and pound him into mush.

We're at a point where something's got to give. The cost for the TSA is far too high for the results we aren't getting - and when the ball gets dropped like it did over Christmas with the KnickerBomber, then there's a severe problem that isn't going to be fixed by examining everyone's undies.

And I don't know what'd be the best solution - but it's pretty plain that this isn't it.

Any thoughts?

J.

That's something that almost goes without thinking, isn't it?

Yet it's something that gets buried under politically correct thinking without even being noticed.

We are supposed to, without hesitation, eschew oil and coal in favor of natural gas, solar and wind power. Cars are supposed to be electrical - yet where will the electricity come from to power the cars? (Wait - solar and wind. Silly me!)

And still, it seems like every large-scale solar or wind project proposed in the last 5 years doesn't even get the first shovel of dirt turned before it's blocked for some reason.

(Let's not even talk about nuclear power - that drives the eco-nuts into near insanity.)

Look at California - it's rapidly assuming an almost failed-state status. They're so far down in the economic hole they've dug it looks like they'll never get out - and people are leaving in droves. (Also Fords, Chevys, Caddys, and U-Hauls.) Offshore, they've got oil that would give the government coffers one hell of a boost in tax revenue... but they're totally phobic about touching it. As things stand now, it'd be a snowy day in San Diego before they start thinking about using it - no matter how badly they need the money.

And it's funny how when it comes to the prospect of drilling for oil here in the US, the constant refrain is that it'll take 5 to 10 years before the oil would come on line... and that's been the song for the last five to 10 years. In return for that delay, we're more dependent on foriegn oil than before - and we've seen gas prices spike to painful heights. We have billions and billions of gallons available - yet it's politically untouchable.

So here's an odd proposal - why not drill and CAP the wells? That way, it'd be available... just not used for whatever reason. (Such as anti-carbon bias, sheer stupidity, a desire to drive up prices at the pump or whatever...) It'd boost the economy, provide needed jobs. If need be, uncap and sell the oil, you end up with a good bit of revenue in a short time frame. It's a win-win all around.

Same thing with nuclear power plants. Build them - it provides jobs to begin with, then if need be (and I can't imagine a situation where it wouldn't be) the electricity is sold. Again, a win-win.

But there's always a lag time - or lead time - in constructing large-scale projects. The ideal time to have been building this stuff was 5 to 10 years ago... but the short-sighted fools in Washington thought that'd be too far out to be useful.

Guess that's what happens when you plan with elections in mind. If it doesn't do you any good NOW - it's not worth doing.

J.

FOXNews.com - At CES, Intel Rolls Out Tiniest Transistors Ever

SAN FRANCISCO — Intel rolled out new computer chips Thursday that highlight the company's lead over rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. in its ability to shrink the circuitry inside its processors.

Intel's new Core chips, unveiled at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, are the company's first to feature tiny parts whose average width is 32 nanometers, or 32 billionths of a meter.

The transistors -- little on/off switches that regulate the flow of electric current -- are so small on those chips that 60 million could fit onto the head of a pin. That's twice the number that could fit into the same space in the previous generation of chips.

J.

Yesterday we had dinner over at the new place my folks are staying. As detailed before, my folks aren't in the best of condition. Father's doing great for a guy of 90 - mobile and interested in the things around him - but Mother's in hospice care, and we're surprised she's lasted as long as she has.

But she doesn't get out much, in fact, she doesn't even get out of bed or sit up. Father takes care of her quite a bit, and the folks at the assisted living facility are diligent in their care of her - making sure she's clean and turning her from side to side. Mother doesn't talk much any more, and she's almost blind... so we've taken to taking dinners over there. Thankgiving dinner worked nicely with food from Boston Market, Christmas dinner also worked well using the normal foods.

Yesterday, Father had steak. A BIG steak, and he put down about 3/4ths of it. Mother had a little bit - but not much. And yesterday we dragged out some old mess hall trays to eat on - we've had those for 15 years or more, They're this style, though with no discernable markings so it's hard to tell just how old they are.

We've had them stored under the stove - so you can imagine how great they looked. For some reason there was this brownish tarnish on them, that was resistant to pretty much everything I had on hand. (I was tempted to use 400 grit sandpaper, but refrained.) The harshest scouring powder I had and used was "Bon Ami" - and it didn't cut the tarnish at all. (I was tempted to use Comet, but thought that was a bit much.) I washed them enough so they were clean - but they didn't look good at all. They were, however, 'clean enough to eat off of.', so we did.

These work pretty well - there's a signficant shortage of counter and table space in my folk's room, and these worked better than plates and bowls would have. We cooked the food here at home, plated it out there, and had a pretty good time. Give the trays a cursory wipe to clean off the big gunk, and stack them for cleaning later.

(And I was determined to clean them!)

So now, I needed to find something that'd cut that tarnish and clean the one that'd gotten 'rusty'. Well, it looked like rust, flaked like rust - that's close enough to rust for me...

The local grocery provided steel wool pads (a last resort thing), Scotchbrite pads, Cameo cleanser and a product I'd used before with good effect - "Barkeeper's Friend". I figured, what the heck - let's do a product comparison.

The trays were cleaned slightly with warm water and detergent to get the food residues off. Then I tried the next harshest stuff - the Cameo cleanser with a soft pad.

It didn't work. I tried it with a Scotchbrite pad and it worked a bit - but I think it was more the pad than the cleaner.

Then it was time for the Barkeeper's Friend. A soft pad with the stuff worked a bit better than the Cameo - but when I used the Scotchbrite I really started cutting the tarnish. I let the stuff sit for a few minutes, stacking the trays in the sink with a thin layer of the stuff between them, and then took the Scotchbrite to them, and the tarnish came off pretty easily.

The trays are looking a LOT better, to the point where the things look almost new - at least from the front. The backs still need some work, but not all that much now.

We'll keep using the trays for the dinners over at my folks. Now they're clean and shiny they'll see a lot more use!

And Father? He laughed at them - said they reminded him of his time in the Navy in WW2. Heck, for all I know, they're that old!

So to recap on the cleaning materials...

Bon Ami and a soft pad are fine for light stuff, won't touch the heavy. Won't scratch.

Cameo? Eh. About as effective as Bon Ami.

Scotchbrite pad? Effective at getting stuff off - works best with lots of elbow grease. May scratch softer materials.

Bar Keeper's Friend? This stuff will cut through the most stubborn stains, and will scratch shiny materials if used carelessly. I don't know what the abrasive is, but it'll do the job - if you aren't looking to leave a mirror finish afterward. (And you might even be able to do that with this stuff - with a soft pad and a LOT of elbow grease!)

Well, it was more of a curiosity thing than anything else - what worked best to clean years of tarnish?

Now you know!

J.

... was also one he's waited years for, likely wouldn't have wanted when he was better off - and didn't even realize he could get until about six years ago, when he and Mother started having real health problems.

It's the VA Pension with Aid and Assistance benefits.

The qualifications are pretty steep - it's a 'benefit paid to wartime veterans who have limited or no income, and who are age 65 or older, or, if under 65, who are permanently and totally disabled. Veterans who are more seriously disabled may qualify for Aid and Attendance or Housebound benefits. These are benefits that are paid in addition to the basic pension rate.'

As I said, we started looking into this about six years back - but they had too much money in savings to qualify, as well as a house. They sold the house, moved here to Atlanta about three, four years back, and have been living in assisted living facilities ever since. With Father's tiny AT&T pension, and social security, and Mother's social security benefits, they've been bleeding the savings at a pretty good rate. Recently (well, last August) they moved to a less expensive facility (which actually has been treating them better) and that's stemmed the bleeding some - but the damage was done.

Last March we decided to try the VA route again. We got the paperwork together, sent it off, and were told to wait until around Christmas to call the VA for progress. (Government wheels turning slowly and all that...)

I called before Christmas - figuring to get good news. After all, who doesn't like knowing a present is coming?

The VA up in Washington had no record at all of Father's case. Or his application. Instead of a full stocking of treats, Father got a big friggin' lump of coal to chew on.

After Christmas, I called the local VA Assistance office - and the woman there tracked things down to the Atlanta office. I received 4 calls in two days on her progress - and THEN things started to move. I received three calls in one morning from a guy in Virginia working on the case, first *apologizing* for the paperwork being lost, then another for clarification, then another to let me know they were still checking things out...

And I got two more calls from the LOCAL office again, letting me know things were moving.

The next day Father got his case approved. Less than 72 hours after the local office was notified that there was a problem - Father's pension was approved. (Why was I told to wait 9 months before checking? Who knows - but there's one more surprise coming.)

One very pleasant provision on the pension... it's retroactive from the time the paperwork is filed. We got the paperwork in before April, so Father got a lump-sum check with 9 months of benefits in it.

And it arrived on his birthday. (Well, actually one day after - but it got there before we had his birthday party, so technically it's under the wire. It arrived on his birthday, and don't argue!)

Running the numbers - he's good now. The lump sum alone would keep things going for a year and a half, if the income they have now doesn't change. Add in the monthly check, and he's assured of a place to stay that'll take care of him from here on in... He's assured of his independence, as long as he can get around.

And that's a wonderful present, as far as I'm concerned!

J.

We've been pretty much pleased with ComCast over the years. At least, until lately. Frankly, their HD lineup's not been that great, and there have been annoying little 'glitches' when we go from HD to SD and back. Nothing we couldn't live with, but they were annoyances just the same. But New Year's weekend, we hit the breaking point.

The cable box went unresponsive. We pulled the plug, replugged it in, and it... kind of worked. It wouldn't go above a certain channel number, half the buttons on the remote didn't work, so we pulled power and waited, then replugged things and it worked better... but we couldn't get to the Guide, or the saved stuff on the DVR. I figured I'd try their "Online Chat" to see about getting authorization to swap out the cable box, then swing by the local office and do it.

It took me 90 minutes to get on-line with a tech.

It took 30 minutes to persuade them the box was faulty, and have the records annotated to reflect that I'd be bringing the box in.

It took 15 minutes to get to the local office.

It took 30 minutes standing in line to find out that there were no cable boxes of any sort available. But I'd get a free service call to get it replaced. Would Tuesday be okay?

It took me 15 minutes to drive home.

It took the little guy 5 minutes to hook it all up again - and... everything worked properly. Snarl...

The next day, I was ready to listen when the DirectTV guy got us over at Sam's Club. We got the spiel, walked around a bit and got stuff while talking about it - and frankly, after the treatment I got from ComCast, it looked pretty attractive. More channels, supposedly better reception, what wasn't to like? Plus there was a good installation deal - so we bit.

The install went easier than I anticipated - and I also found we've got a good bit of coax going around the house that wasn't really identifiable. (Shrug) That's the way it goes, I guess.

We've ended up with more channels, faster response to channel changes, a better quality of picture, no more annoying 'black screens' when switching from SD to HD or back - a better guide, AND we can schedule stuff to be recorded on the internet. Or through the little guy's IPod Touch. Or from work. Or from.... anyplace we can get on-line.

For less than ComCast was charging.

So - we've cut the cable. And what was my experience when calling to CANCEL ComCast's TV service? Stay tuned for the next installment!

J.

BBC News - 'Almost indestructible' hard drive put to the test

When PC hard drives first came out in the early '80s, they were terribly expensive and the sizes were miniscule, nearly microscopic by today's standards. You didn't even put the thing down hard on a table, much less toss it into the bucket of a front-end loader after an attempted incineration.

Things change, don't they?

J.

BBC News - Reporter breaks an 'unbreakable' mobile phone at CES

Whoops.

Well, it's so hard to find sources of clear unobtanium any more...

J.

My Way News - Gasoline prices zip toward $3 mark

Gasoline prices on Monday continued their push toward $3 per gallon. The only question now is when?

Prices have been jumping on the back of a strong oil market where the cost for a barrel has spiked 20 percent in the past month on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Is it uneconomical to get it at $82 a barrel?

Or are we running into a problem with the thinking of those in charge, who are more beholden to the greens than to the people at large?

The argument last time prices spiked was that it would take too long to bring the stuff to market to affect the current crisis. Wonder if anyone will point out to the politicians complaining about the cost of oil and how we need a government program to help the poor that if we HAD started work THEN we would have had a lot of jobs, good-paying jobs, and lower oil prices right around NOW.

Funny how you can get things done if you're actually looking beyond the next election, isn't it?

J.

MUSICDIRECT - AUDIOQUEST - EVEREST SPEAKER CABLE 8' PR

$11,700.

Wow.

Found this when I was looking on-line to see if there was any real difference between TOSLink and HDMI - we've got everything hooked together with HDMI cabling, thought fiber optic would be better... but imagine my surprise to find that fiber was only for audio!

HDMI works - I don't think I'll mess with it until the next big thing comes along. And $11,700 silver speaker wires aren't it!

J.

And this was a BIG surprise from CBS.

Copenhagen Summit Turned Junket? - CBS News

(CBS) Few would argue with the U.S. having a presence at the Copenhagen Climate Summit. But wait until you hear what we found about how many in Congress got all-expense paid trips to Denmark on your dime.

CBS investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports that cameras spotted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the summit. She called the shots on who got to go. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and embattled Chairman of the Tax Committee Charles Rangel were also there.

They were joined by 17 colleagues: Democrats: Waxman, Miller, Markey, Gordon, Levin, Blumenauer, DeGette, Inslee, Ryan, Butterfield, Cleaver, Giffords, and Republicans: Barton, Upton, Moore Capito, Sullivan, Blackburn and Sensenbrenner.

That's not the half of it. But finding out more was a bit like trying to get the keys to Ft. Knox. Many referred us to Speaker Pelosi who wouldn't agree to an interview. Her office said it "will comply with disclosure requirements" but wouldn't give us cost estimates or even tell us where they all stayed.

Oh, it looks like it'll be an interesting year...

(And no, this isn't a political article per se, it's more of a "Hey, look, CBS is starting to report things that don't make sense!" thing than anything else...)

J.

* Not to be confused with the real thing.

Man Boards Flight with Shotgun Shells - CBS News

AP) A passenger inadvertently carried shotgun shells onto a Dallas-bound Midwest Airlines plane at Milwaukee's airport on Monday before he realized his mistake and alerted flight attendants, authorities said.

The man, who was not identified, did not mean any harm, saying he had forgotten that the ammunition was in his carryon bags when he boarded the flight, Transportation Security Administration spokesman Jim Fotenos said.

TSA agents turned the ammunition over to local police and sent the man back for another security search. They then allowed him to reboard and the plane left for Dallas later Monday.

Well, they wouldn't have been much of a danger to the plane in the first place, but still - you'd have thought it'd be caught on the x-ray.

And he was honest enough to bring it to the attention of the flight crew. It kind of makes you wonder - what OTHER things make it through the 'comprehensive' inspections by the TSA?

J.

U.N. Cuts Back on Investigating Its Own Fraud - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News - FOXNews.com

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations has cut back sharply on investigations into corruption and fraud within its ranks, shelving cases involving the possible theft or misuse of millions of dollars, an Associated Press review has found.
At least five major cases in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa are among the inquiries halted as the U.N. scaled back on self-policing over the past year.
The world body was rocked earlier in the decade when more than 2,200 companies from some 40 countries colluded with Saddam Hussein's regime to bilk $1.8 billion from a U.N.-administered oil-for-food program for Iraqi humanitarian relief.
In response, it established a special anti-corruption unit, the Procurement Task Force, in 2006 that over the next three years uncovered at least 20 other major schemes affecting more than $1 billion in U.N. contracts and international aid.
But at the beginning of 2009, the United Nations shuttered the agency and diverted its work to the Office of Internal Oversight Services' permanent investigation division.

Since then, the number of cases opened, pursued or completed has dropped dramatically and the division has let go most former task force investigators, the AP found in an examination of U.N. documents, audits and e-mails, along with dozens of interviews with current and former U.N. officials and diplomats.

Over the past year, not a single significant fraud or corruption case has been completed, compared with an average 150 cases a year investigated by the task force. The permanent investigation division decided not to even pursue about 95 cases left over when the task force ceased operation, while another 80 unfinished cases have languished.

It also stopped probes into contractors and cut qualified staff and other resources — and halted five major corruption investigations documented by the task force in the final days of 2008.

Man, now I'm even suspicious of UNICEF.

J.

FOXNews.com - 30 Years of Global Cooling Are Coming, Leading Scientist Says

From Miami to Maine, Savannah to Seattle, America is caught in an icy grip that one of the U.N.'s top global warming proponents says could mark the beginning of a mini ice age.

Sigh. I wonder if I can persuade my lovely bride to move further south?

J.

Car Lust: "The Chariot" from Lost In Space

Lost In Space was my favorite show as a kid in 1965 and later years, mainly because our local NBC affiliate blocked Star Trek (1966-1969) for the first 18 months of its three-year run. An overly emotional robot was the biggest star of this show--so when I was eight years old, running around on the playground with my arms flapping, and yelling "Danger! Danger! That does not compute!" like a bubble-headed booby, that was considered quite normal at the time.

Back to reality. In investigating the Lost in Space Chariot some 40 years after the show was canceled, I came across a couple of unexpected and interesting connections. These include genuine outer space adventures, as well as a business partnership with a celebrated automotive legend.

But first, I'd like to spend a little more time talking about this campy, Saturday Morning-mentality show. The first season of Lost In Space was actually serious, dark, expensive to produce (including the then-most-expensive pilot episode ever made), and shown in black-and-white. Between Dr. Smith trying to murder everybody just to get a trip back to Earth, plus the group dealing with the normal pitfalls of intergalactic space travel, the Robinson family spent as much of their time trying to survive as they did exploring alien worlds.

But the Chariot - that was a GREAT vehicle. It'd make short work of local traffic!

Anyone else have 'fond' memories of that show?

J.

And at 22620x15200 pixels, it ought to be!

No, that's not a misprint above. The full-sized .TIF file is 706 MB - but smaller JPGs are available.

Hubble photographs grand design spiral galaxy M81

The sharpest image ever taken of the large "grand design" spiral galaxy M81 is being released today at the American Astronomical Society Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii.

A spiral-shaped system of stars, dust, and gas clouds, the galaxy's arms wind all the way down into the nucleus. Though the galaxy is located 11.6 million light-years away, the Hubble Space Telescope's view is so sharp that it can resolve individual stars, along with open star clusters, globular star clusters, and even glowing regions of fluorescent gas. The Hubble data was taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys in 2004 through 2006.
This colour composite was assembled from images taken in blue, visible, and infrared light.

J.

No, Seriously, a Working Star Trek Phaser With DIY Instructions - phaser - Gizmodo

LOL. Sound effects and everything... Just makes me wonder - wouldn't it be best to wear laser-safe goggles when using this? (Tuned to the specific frequency of the phaser, of course...)

Ah, ingenuity. Where would we be without it?

J.

Drench - the world's simplest flash game

Simple, and far too addicting.

Enjoy!

J.

GPS receivers, that is... IDC Design Corporation has one that'll fit on your keychain, and is about the length of a car key, by the picture.

Very neat, and low cost - only $100!

The future is a very interesting place, isn't it? Such neat toys! It's just basically a little locator - you set the point you want to go back to, and it'll guide you there. Not terribly complex at all, until you look at the physics and the satellite infrastructure behind it.

J.

Great American Group is selling a "3 Million Sq. Ft. Automotive Fabrication, Assembly Plant & Distribution Center".

Of course, it won't be a secret if you tell everyone about it. You might want to put your bid through a disposable minion.

It comes complete with sufficient machine tools and robots to build your war machines and mechanical horde that'll take over the country... and then the world! BWAA-HA-HA-ha-ha....!

(Minions and raw materials not included - offer void where prohibited by law. Oh, wait - you're an evil overlord - the laws don't apply. Never mind!)

J.

Official prediction: gas will hit $3 this summer in U.S. — Autoblog Green
Do you ever notice how the eco-minded cheer when the economy is kicked in the unmentionables by higher energy prices?

When gas prices spiked, a lot of the eco-nuts were happy - because (a) it showed how horribly dependent on fossil fuels we were and (b) it served those darn gas-guzzing rude SUV drivers right, dang it! The thought was that by slamming us with higher oil prices, 'green' energy would be much more attractive and it'd spur developement.

Then oil prices collapsed, and we went back to business more or less as usual. (Except we're importing more oil now than we were then, thanks to the efforts of those who don't want any drilling done anywhere in the US or off the coasts.) Now oil prices are inching back up again (info here... ) and gas prices are inching up, and the usual nuts (as in the comments) are proclaiming that this is a GOOD thing for everyone!

No, I don't get it either. Civilization is powered by energy, and that energy comes from fossil fuels. There's no getting around that - we need energy to keep the lights on and the wheels turning - and the higher the cost for oil or energy of any kind the higher the prices are going to be for everything.

It'd be interesting to find out what the folks who are cheering the prospect of $6 gas do for a living. Somehow I think they figure the high prices wouldn't impact them - but I'd bet they'd be the first to complain about high prices in the stores...

J.

Otherwise, I've a hard time understanding why something like this would be in the news.

U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret 'Jesus' Bible Codes - ABC News

Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.

At the end of the serial number on Trijicon's ACOG gun sight, you can read "JN8:12", a reference to the New Testament book of John, Chapter 8, Verse 12, which reads: "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." The ACOG is widely used by the U.S. military.

The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. The maker of the sights, Trijicon, has a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, and additional contracts to provide sights to the U.S. Army.

U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the proselytizing of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious "Crusade" in its war against al Qaeda and Iraqi."

Trijicon confirmed to ABCNews.com that it adds the biblical codes to the sights sold to the U.S. military. Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, which is based in Wixom, Michigan, said the inscriptions "have always been there" and said there was nothing wrong or illegal with adding them. Munson said the issue was being raised by a group that is "not Christian." The company has said the practice began under its founder, Glyn Bindon, a devout Christian from South Africa who was killed in a 2003 plane crash.

The comments kind of bear this out...

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care. When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest assured: I don't care. When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank: I don't care. When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed 'special' food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don't care. And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled 'Koran' and other times 'Quran.' Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and-you guessed it - I don't care!!

ABC - no wonder your ratings have tanked. With Haiti, ACORN corruption, Communists taking over the govt - and you find time to focus on this? Only surprise here - is that Katie Couric didn't discover this first! Shame on you.

So what? They look like model numbers. The majority of the people who have them didn't notice them. Does the inscription making the scope function better? Worse? Blowup? Only target Muslims or other non-Christians? Are you having a slow news day? You have to try to create controversy. Geez. No wonder your news group is tanking.

Completely irresponsible reporting. The service personnel on the ground have nothing to do with the equipment they are provided. ABC’s reporting of this does nothing but enables our enemies with more propaganda in which to project their hate. You guys suck.

Wait... Defying Gravity is it. But... it got cancelled. (Not surprising, eh? Why have a full season of an SF program, and let it build an audience? It didn't get blockbuster ratings in the 10 PM timeslot on a SUNDAY - so it got the boot after 8 episodes. No wonder broadcast TV is tanking...

On the good side, it looks like they're releasing the 13 episodes that WERE filmed on DVD. Might have to get that, if only to see how the cliffhanger in Ep. 8 was resolved...

Oh, and what does this have to do with the story on Trijicon sights? Absolutely nothing - but it does show how ABC stinks!

J.

And me without a pickup...

NASA Giving Away Space Shuttle Engines For Free - To Anyone Who Can Pick Them Up - Space Shuttle - io9

You could own this amazing main engine from the Space Shuttle for free, as long as you're willing to remove it from NASA premises. NASA tried to sell the shuttle's engines, but lack of interest is your good fortune.

A used Shuttle's going for $28.8 mil. Hmmm, add in a 'Secret' lair, and pretty soon you could be in a position to put your death machines in orbit!

Oh, NASA... how you've fallen...

J.

But that's okay - there's been a LOT of junk marketed to the folks who just can't stand not having a catchy gadget.

Worst Gadgets Gallery - - Gizmodo

#8 - the Deskstar? We saw WAY too many of those here at the plant...

#5 - I've got one somewhere. Flash memory killed off any utility it had.

#1 - had one... but I think I passed it to someone who wanted it.

#10 - data doesn't travel any better on gold-plated connectors and wires insulated with the finest of plastic than it does on a $5 cable. You want to spend roughly $20 a foot, go right ahead...

And I never even thought there'd be a market for #30. Very high eww factor there...

How many of these things have YOU lusted after, but were lucky enough not to own?

J.

Last count I saw he was up over 110k.

Coakley conceded.

Well, HER political career just took a nose dive off a bridge...

So now Pelosi, Reid and Obama are faced with a choice - they can let health care die, or they can shove the Democratic party into the water by pushing it forward. I think Pelosi's looking at the water and going "It's not too deep!" - think she'll lead the charge off the bridge, or shove a few others in to test the water first?

J.

(Yeah, it's political. What can I say? It's a major event, that will have repercussions far outside the state the election was held in...)

Daniel Rubin: It was no joke at security gate | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/21/2010

In the tense new world of air travel, we're stripped of shoes, told not to take too much shampoo on board, frowned on if we crack a smile.

The last thing we expect is a joke from a Transportation Security Administration screener - particularly one this stupid.

Rebecca Solomon is 22 and a student at the University of Michigan, and on Jan. 5 she was flying back to school after holiday break. She made sure she arrived at Philadelphia International Airport 90 minutes before takeoff, given the new regulations.

She would be flying into Detroit on Northwest Airlines, the same city and carrier involved in the attempted bombing on Christmas, just 10 days before. She was tense.

What happened to her lasted only 20 seconds, but she says they were the longest 20 seconds of her life.

"Hello! Thank you for flying with us today. Do we have any military on board? Thank you! Karate black-belts? Okay, thanks. Gang members? Ah, thanks guys. No fighting in flight, okay?

"You people are our security force. If anything happens - we're going to trust you to take care of it. If it's a real attempt at a hijacking or an attempt to blow up the plane - you do what you have to. Try not to kill the perp, okay? It's so hard to get blood out of the carpet, and refiguring the manifest is a pain...

"In return for your efforts, you'll get 1 year unlimited first class travel passes anywhere in our system and we'll cover whatever medical care you might need. However - if you're thinking about yelling "terrorist!" and piling on someone who's not doing anything - we'll prosecute you to the full extent of the law. If the cameras and people around you back you up, you're golden. If not... well...

"Thank you for flying with us today, and being our security force! Frankly, the TSA's a joke - we're glad you're on board!"

J.

But this is a bit much...

Enjoy!

J.

Ah, well.

Air America Radio closing, filing for bankruptcy - Yahoo! News

LOS ANGELES – Air America Radio, a radio network that was launched in 2004 as a liberal alternative to Rush Limbaugh and other conservative commentators, on Thursday shut down abruptly due to financial woes.

The network once boasted hosts such as Al Franken and Rachel Maddow, but struggled from the outset, including multiple management shake-ups, a bankruptcy in 2006 and sale for $4.25 million the following year.

But the couple of times I tried listening to Air America... they just weren't funny. And apparently not enough people found them engaging enough to keep the ratings up - and without ratings you don't get decent sponsors. Without decent sponsors, you don't get money.

No money? No shows. No shows? No network.

You'd have thought they'd be able to keep going by changing the format some, but I guess the ideology just kind of cancelled that idea. You'd have thought their ratings and troubles finding sponsors would have been a clue... but the left really does seem remarkably clueless when it comes to keeping businesses going.

Ah, well - it's not the first network that failed, likely won't be the last...

J.

ATM Card Skimmers Are Getting Frighteningly Sophisticated - ATMSkimmers - Gizmodo

Pay attention to your ATM slots... and those nice little ATMs in malls? Watch out for them. The smarter the protections, the smarter the crooks...

J.

Well, that'll be fun - if they do it right.

Who Is Farscape's New Leading Man? - Farscape - io9

The thing I really, really liked about the old Farscape series is that they didn't take themselves too seriously - but they weren't off the nutty deep end like Lost in Space was, or off on a bizzare tangent the way LEXX went. It's difficult to do imaginative, entertaining SF - you need the right cast, right writers - and time to generate the right audience. Ben Browder and Claudia Black played VERY well off each other - and the rest of the cast (including the Muppet ones) were just as inspired. Add in the writers and imaginative (as well as LONG) story lines - and you had a hit.

It'll be interesting to see if they can pull it off again...

J.

The way things are going, it's questionable whether AGW's going to be even slightly credible by the end of the year.

Glacier scientists says he knew data had not been verified | Mail Online

The scientist behind the bogus claim in a Nobel Prize-winning UN report that Himalayan glaciers will have melted by 2035 last night admitted it was included purely to put political pressure on world leaders.

Dr Murari Lal also said he was well aware the statement, in the 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), did not rest on peer-reviewed scientific research.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Dr Lal, the co-ordinating lead author of the report’s chapter on Asia, said: ‘It related to several countries in this region and their water sources. We thought that if we can highlight it, it will impact policy-makers and politicians and encourage them to take some concrete action.

Last week, Professor Georg Kaser, a glacier expert from Austria, who was lead author of a different chapter in the IPCC report, said when he became aware of the 2035 claim a few months before the report was published, he wrote to Dr Lal, urging him to withdraw it as patently untrue.

Dr Lal claimed he never received this letter. ‘He didn’t contact me or any of the other authors of the chapter,’ he said.

The damage to the IPCC’s reputation, already tarnished by last year’s ‘Warmergate’ leaked email scandal, is likely to be considerable.

Benny Peiser, the GWPF’s director, said the affair suggested the IPCC review process was ‘skewed by a bias towards alarmist assessments’.

Environmentalist Alton Byers said the panel’s credibility had been damaged. ‘They’ve done sloppy work,’ he said. ‘We need better research on the ground, not unreliable predictions derived from computer models.’

The models arent' relaity. Taking action based on a model, especially when said action will impact the world economy to the tune of trillions upon trillions, is fundamentally idiotic when you can't verify the accuracy of the numbers you put in OR your results.

J.

Obama endorses deficit commission plan - David Rogers - POLITICO.com

Trying to win the votes of fiscal moderates, President Barack Obama formally endorsed legislation Saturday creating an independent commission with the power to force Congress to vote on major deficit reduction steps this year, after the November elections.

Of course, it's perfectly in line with the theory that it's far better to announce you're THINKING about doing something politically risky (because a sensible implementation of this would be costly on the 'lost jobs' front re government employees and programs) and place the start date for the process way down the line than to actually DO something about it before the elections, which would have significant political risk.

You make the call - but I'm thinking this will be pretty much the last we're going to see of this idea. The legislation won't come to a vote, the commission will be so impotent a tanker of liquid Viagra wouldn't do any good, and Obama can then go "We addressed the problem of deficits" in 2010!" when he runs in 2012.

Yeah, you addressed the envelope, but did you ever MAIL it?

Or even put a stamp on it?

J.

Which I'm rather glad never got built.

Back in the early '60s, my brother (who was in the Navy at the time) got buttonholed by an encyclopedia salesman at the NEX and bought a set, and had it sent to our home in El Paso. Being very much caught up in the space craze of the time, I immediately (well, kind of - it took a while for my folks to (a) determine they WERE sent by my brother and (b) WERE ours to keep, and (c) WERE okay to get my grubby 8-year old fingers on...) turned to the section on SPACE. Which, for the time, was very extensive, with histories of the Atlas Mercury shots, and projections of what was to come with Gemini and Saturn... and beyond that?

Project Orion.

Yeah, the old "toss out a nuke and ride the explosion" Project Orion. (Not to be confused with NASA's new one - which may be an attempt to sanitize an old name.) I

I thought it would be an absolutely magnificent way to get to the outer planets... and was kind of disappointed when I learned years later on that nothing ever came of it. And now, it looks like someone's designed a resin model of the battleship version of it.

Project Orion Battleship (1963)

I still think it'd be a neat, flashy idea (literally - imagine riding into orbit on God's own flash bulbs...) but I can see a lot of the downsides, too. Once launched, it could never land on anything with more gravity than, say, Phobos. (Can you imagine trying to back the thing now on nuclear blasts? Think what it'd do to the local property values to have a spaceport for one of THOSE in your neighborhood!)

Yeah, there's things that technically would be absolutely amazing... but you wouldn't want to be in the same STATE when they take off...

J.

Conan the Librarian

Unfortunately, the original 'Adventures of Conan the Librarian' aren't available. But the "Return of Conan the Librarian" and "Conan the Librarian on the Information Highway" are on line...

Enjoy!

J.

The Art of Manliness | Men's Interests and Lifestyle

Interesting stuff...

I'm pretty sure it's SFW. Enjoy!

J.

LG Goes Retro With The Serie 1 CRT TV, Proving 14-Inches Can Be Enough - Lg serie 1 - Gizmodo

I wouldn't.

It's ... cute, I guess. And 'stylish' in a '50s mode that I'm really not terribly nostalgic for. And... you can't tell whether it's a color TV or a B&W.

Well, we've got enough junk. I think I'll pass.

J.

World's First 3D Photocopier Goes On Sale For $17,000 - Ortery photosimile 5000 3d photocopier - Gizmodo

A 3D photocopier should, I think, actually make 3D copies of an item. All this does is take PICTURES of the item. Which would, I'd imagine, make it really useful if you've got a lot of small stuff you want to sell that has a lot of fine design details you want available in a pic on your web site.

But putting in an item and getting two (or more) out? Nope.

Ah, well.

J.

Astronomy.com - 2010: The year of the baffling eclipse

A 24-month long eclipse, that comes on a 27 year cycle. Whatever's causing it must be pretty huge. Maybe someone's building a Dyson sphere? Or a Ringworld's got a bit of a wobble going? A very thick asteroid belt that's precessing like crazy? (Hey, it's Alderann!)

It'll be interesting to see what they come up with..

Harrison Bergeron

Now available at Amazon, the very well-done short film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron funded by our friends at the Moving Picture Institute. Watch the preview below. (If you're an Instapundit reader like me, you may have noticed a few Harrison Bergeron references in recent weeks. Could Harrison Bergeron be to 2010 what John Galt was to 2009?)

The original story is here. Unfortunately, I think that Vonnegut was just a little late on his thinking - he thought it'd be 2081, but sometimes it seems like it's being pushed hard nowdays in the interests of 'fairness'.

Berkeley High may cut lab classes to fund programs for struggling students - latimes.com

Trying to address a major ethnic and racial achievement gap, the school could divert funds from before- and after-school science labs filled mostly with white students. The plan has sparked debate.

Well, we'll learn eventually. Maybe.

J.

California Embraces Nukes At Last - Environment - io9

Despite its long opposition to nuclear power, the Golden State may soon be building several nuclear power plants - because they are environmentally friendly.

So why is the state where the phrase "No Nukes" became a rallying cry possibly allowing a slew of plants to be built in the Central Valley, the state's bone-dry, irrigated breadbasket? It comes down to the state's global warming law, which requires California to steeply increase — by 30 percent — in renewable energy by 2020.

The new plan comes from the company Areva SA primarily owned by the government of France, where nuclear fission has been a mainstream power source for decades. They're working with the Fresno Nuclear Energy Group.

Will wonders ever cease...

J.

Earworms - Virtual Clinic - Earworms Research - UC College of Business

And there's ALWAYS something that'll be infective... from ad jingles to pop music.

Oddly enough, even's Beethoven's 5th Symphony is an earworm carrier. So practice proper aural hygiene, use a clean piece of mental floss every time before you put in the earplugs!

J.

White House insiders say Obama budget axes Constellation program, plan to return astronauts to the moon - OrlandoSentinel.com

NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon are dead. So are the rockets being designed to take them there — that is, if President Barack Obama gets his way.

When the White House releases his budget proposal Monday, there will be no money for the Constellation program that was supposed to return humans to the moon by 2020. The troubled and expensive Ares I rocket that was to replace the space shuttle to ferry humans to space will be gone, along with money for its bigger brother, the Ares V cargo rocket that was to launch the fuel and supplies needed to take humans back to the moon.

There will be no lunar landers, no moon bases, no Constellation program at all.

In their place, according to White House insiders, agency officials, industry executives and congressional sources familiar with Obama's long-awaited plans for the space agency, NASA will look at developing a new "heavy-lift" rocket that one day will take humans and robots to explore beyond low Earth orbit. But that day will be years — possibly even a decade or more — away.

In the meantime, the White House will direct NASA to concentrate on Earth-science projects — principally, researching and monitoring climate change...

But the idiots celebrating this fail to look beyond their noses. "Oh, good! We won't be loading up rockets with dollars and firing them into space!" Instead, we're going to see a lot of well paid technical jobs in the aerospace industry disappear - and the money THEY got paid which flows out to their communities will disappear also. The money to the suppliers? That's going to disappear. So the folks at the aerospace suppliers will lose jobs. So THEIR local economies are going to be impacted. It all flows downhill, ever notice?

And after the Shuttle retires this year (because it's old and decrepit) we'll be dependent ENTIRELY on the Russians to get a man and supplies to the Space Station.

Way to go, Barry! I'm sure you'll find some OTHER group to shove the money to! Hey, how about using some of that STIMULUS money to fund a new man-rated system? Not much, maybe only $10-20 billion - it'll create more jobs than the original Stimulus package ever did!

Sheesh. What a bunch of clowns.

J.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » "Not true" : Alito mouths words as Obama hammers Supreme Court

Good friggin' lord...

I didn't watch this - busy with other things - but this segment is... well... I'm flabbergasted, and my gast don't flabber that easily these days.

To see the President hammering on the Supreme Court... I've never seen the like. I don't know what the hell he's trying to do (giving him every benefit of the doubt here) but he just threw the Supreme Court under the bus.

Getting pretty crowded under there, isn't it? Expect more to be shoved under, I think.

It'll be interesting to see the analysis of this speech. Somehow, I don't think Obama's going to do as well as he thinks he will...

J.

E. O. Wilson: Trailhead : The New Yorker

The Trailhead Queen was dead. At first, there was no overt sign that her long life was ending: no fever, no spasms, no farewells. She simply sat on the floor of the royal chamber and died.

Unless you've had experiences with fire ants. Then there's a certain satisfaction...

Seriously, though, it's a very interesting look at life in an ant colony. Just an odd bit of science - enjoy!

J.

Long-Awaited Barefoot Running Study Finds Sneakers Are Harmful | Popular Science

More bad news for sneakers came last December, when the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation found that running shoes can increase joint torques at the hip, knee and ankle. Their study suggested that even going for a run in high heels was better for preventing joint injuries than tennis shoes.

Hmmm.

J.

Hmmm.

Six PADDs I Would Actually Buy - Padd - io9

I've had a fair bit of fun with the little guy's IPod Touch - but though it's a very interesting device (and amazing to someone who made it the hard way through 30+ years of computing technology advances) I have a hard time persuading myself I need one. WANT? Certainly - but not a whole lot. NEED? Nope - don't need one.

(Frankly, I'd like to take one apart. But don't tell the little guy that - he might hide the thing.)

There's been a number of IPad like devices used on various iterations of Star Trek. None that I'd really find usable - guess some interfaces you have to grow up with - but still they functioned as usable background or plot devices.

But this? I could see using this... I just have to see if it's worth $500 or so, and so far, I'm having a hard time convincing myself.

Yeah, my geek score's going into the dumper, isn't it?

J.

One of the things I would like to do is get an architech and a designer together and build a 'dream house'. But that brings up the question - just what would I want?

There's not that many house styles I find visually appealing. (I don't find them disgusting, either - more of a big shrug than anything else.) I'm not a fan of a broad expanse of grassy lawn - unless someone else keeps it up for me. (Hey, if I win the lottery, I wouldn't have to. Hmmm. That makes it more appealing!) Neither am I a fan of size for size's sake, or style for the sake of being different. I'd want something that would feel like I'd lived there for decades right when I moved in, where every switchplate and socket would be in the first place I looked or touched when needed.

Heh, dreaming, aren't I?

At times in the past I've like Frank Lloyd Wright's works. But as time goes on it seems to me like his houses are more frameworks that the people who commissioned them need to fit into - museum structures where the furniture must be place just *so* and to move something two inches shatters the entire effect.

Perhaps that's why I like the IKEA interior styles so much - there's a spontaneous feel to them, design that works WITH people as opposed to being rigid, structured, and something that people are supposed to adapt to. My folks' selections were like that - big, heavy, darkly varnished public pieces of furniture, uncomfortable couches that they liked the look of, chairs that were 'stylish' back in the day (Early 20th? Late 19th? Ornate, detailed, upholstered in fabric that looked like paramecia mating...) but nobody ever sat in for more than ten minutes. You know, 'formal' living room furniture.

Might be why I like southwestern style so much...

So what's inspired this rumination? Well, I spotted a link that led me to another link, which led me to a site called "Apartment Therapy" that had info on minimalist spaces and design ideas, then to Re-Nest which had info on homes under 400 sq. ft, then to The Ultimate Guy's Dream House | Apartment Therapy Unplggd finally finishing up at Unhappy Hipsters... which shows that no matter how stylish you are, it's the people that make the home - not the other way around.

J.

It's been amazing to me that the Mars Rovers have lasted the way they have. 90 day warranty - and Spirit's at 2070 days over that. Good engineering, guys!

The folks over at XKCD have a cartoon honoring Spirit - and it's pretty touching. xkcd - Spirit - By Randall Munroe

In an ideal world, we'd be about five years from bringing it back to put in the Smithsonian... but that's not the reality of things.

Spirit's done one heck of a job. And it'll keep running - it's just changed from a mobile platform to a stationary one.

J.

Roger's Rules - How Stupid Do They Think We Are?

Then you've got your answer.

Bluntly, they think we're gullible rubes, standing in line to hand over our money in exchange for promises that are at the same time unlikely to be kept and actually harmful to our well-being as a nation.

In an effort to win back the support of “fiscal moderates,” Obama yesterday endorsed the idea of creating a special debt and deficit reducing commission. But guess what, it wouldn’t convene until after next November’s election. In the meantime, he is counting on Democrats to muster enough votes to raise the federal debt ceiling further into the stratosphere of economic irresponsibility.

J,

Total Protonic Reversal: Dennis Kucinich Defends Tea-Partiers, Shreds Democrat Hacks and Chicago-style Politics

When you've lost Kucinich, you're really going nuts.

J.

80-port USB charger on the verge of overdoing things – New Tech Gadgets - Electronic Devices | Geek.com

An 80 port CHARGER? I'd buy an 80-port USB 2.0 HUB, but if all it does is charge stuff? Nope...

(Looks at current desk mess - sees 12 ports used on 5 different hubs... sighs wistfully.)

J.

Obama finds pocket change in White House couches, several $1 bills stuffed into a vase!

White House lists some proposed cuts in 2011 budget | Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will propose cutting or changing some 120 items in his budget for fiscal 2011 that will help save $20 billion this year, the White House said on Saturday.

Obama, who on Monday presents his budget proposals for the fiscal year starting October 1, has promised to tackle record deficits by initiating a spending freeze on some domestic programs and eliminating programs that are redundant.

J.