Much has been written on the Refuge regarding what might be termed fine motor co-ordination experiments. That, and something to do with playing the drums in a manner that most drummers don’t, you know, like backwards. Some might ask “What is the point of practicing a double paradiddle on a bunch of left-side mounted toms [...]
Archive for November, 2008
24 Nov
So, when did you start to hate e-mail?
My use of electronic mail began over 15 years ago, with the client being Dartmouth College’s BlitzMail interface. This was back in the days when the word Internet was not frequently used, but terms like Gopher, Hyperstack, and NCSA were. As someone who even then enjoyed written communication, this was an endearing, even giddy novelty. [...]
21 Nov
Happy Birthday Rene Magritte
Today would’ve been Magritte’s 110th birthday. The Google homepage has an homage to the Belgian surrealist painter, a combination of the works The Son of Man and Golconda.
I’ve been attracted to his work for many years and have a reproduction of The Son of Man in my office and a lovely little Golconda magnet on [...]
19 Nov
The Golden Gate Bridge suicide phenomenon
A man named Eric Steel has stubbornly filmed the jumping suicides of 24 people from the Golden Gate Bridge in 2004.
I’m not sure anyone wants to watch this.
I happen to have a been a city resident at the time, doing diabetes research. I never saw a jumper, but a running friend had. This person saw [...]
19 Nov
Priest denies someone some stuff, somewhere
The fallout in the wake of the election continues to amuse.
The thing is, I don’t quite understand it. For example, what is the general point of a Catholic priest in South Carolina who claims to be denying pro-Obamans their right to Holy Communion? Is this a weekly thing? Does this mean he’s starving them, or [...]
19 Nov
Eleven atheist billboards make the Colorado scene
Now that I’ve expended my quota of navel-gazing for the year and probably for 2009 as well, I can go back to posting like an asshole.
I suppose this is interesting mainly for its novelty. I can’t even feign surprise at the vacuity of the nutter droning on about how American Christians have served as a [...]
19 Nov
Then again, no one’s confusing the AFA with genius
Has it really not occurred to anyone at the American Family Association that some people might find this offensive?
19 Nov
An “OOPS!” for the ages.
That sucks.
HOUSTON (AP) — Flight controllers were revamping plans Wednesday for the remaining spacewalks planned during space shuttle Endeavour’s visit to the international space station, after a crucial tool bag floated out to space during a repair trip.
The briefcase-sized tool bag drifted away from astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper on Tuesday as she cleaned and lubed a [...]
19 Nov
For no good reason at all
Except that someone I trust far more than I do myself thinks this might not be so bad.
To most of you I’m a semidescript blogger who tends to wax and wane in his anti-religious, anti-nonsense ways, coming and going at random. Just one more guy with a high-flown opinion. In reality, I’m just a guy [...]
15 Nov
Under the influence
All writers–not that there’s a real distinction between people who create words and people who create more compelling or lucrative words besides money and self-identity–are voracious readers (despite this often feeling like a guilty pleasure), and any writer will tell you that when they read the work of a particularly flavorful, influential, or admired author, [...]
15 Nov
A fish story worth listening to
When I was a junior astronomy nut between the ages of about 10 and 12, the innumerable books on the subject I checked out of the Concord (N.H.) Public Library all included confident claims that, one day, we would find planets orbiting stars other than our own. It was simply inevitable based on statistical principles [...]
14 Nov
A funeral procession on angel dust
OR: Predictable fallout from the election of Barack Hussein Obama to the Office of the President of the United States of America.
Certain things in the cacophanous concerto of life can stupefy the hardiest of observers while at the same time affirming their blandest expectations. When this occurs, it is incumbent upon the observer to Spread [...]
13 Nov
How a Setback Thermostat Saves Energy
There is some confusion as to precisely how a setback thermostat saves energy. In fact, because of misunderstandings I have heard a number of people proclaim that a setback doesn’t save energy. There are two common arguments:
1. Although you save energy as the house is initially cooling during the setback period, the furnace has to [...]
12 Nov
Salary Survey Results: Electrical/Electronic Engineers 2008
Electronic Design has released their 2008 salary survey for electrical and electronic engineers. Average salary for design and development engineers is now $94k (base salary). Engineering management is up to $116k. The highest paying regions are Pacific and Mountain at $114k and $103k, respectively. The lowest regions are East North Central and West North Central [...]
9 Nov
Doctor Atomic: A Brilliant Luminescence
A few regulars who drop by for grooming sessions and pant-hoots at the Refuge are probably aware that I am a long time J. Robert Oppenheimer fangrrl, or more accurately at my age, a fancrone. So when I discovered that Doctor Atomic was playing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, I impulsively bought [...]
6 Nov
FAQ: Class D Audio Amplifiers
New from Audio Designline is this three page FAQ on class D audio amplifiers. Not extremely technical, but it answers many questions for the technically minded. I remember studying class D amplifiers many years ago in college. In those days the quality was decidedly not hi-fi and the reliability was somewhere in the vicinity of [...]
6 Nov
After the math
I’m not going to gloat. Instead I’m going to expand merrily on the success of my ideology at the expense of the opposition. Oh, wait…well, never mind.
Those of you with Republican leanings would be well advised to pay attention to what your talking heads have screwed you into, because there’s little getting out. Whatever fiscally [...]
5 Nov
Norm Coleman: Uber-Weasel
Norm Coleman never ceases to amaze me. No matter how much of a scoundrel you may think he is, he can always manage to go one better. For example, consider this story from CNN describing the election results. In an excruciatingly close election, we find Coleman barely ahead with 42 percent of the vote and [...]
5 Nov
Poll: Do You Agree With Gay Marriage Bans?
Here you go, from MSNBC:
http://www.polls.newsvine.com/_question/2008/11/05/2074539-do-you-agree-with-the-gay-marriage-bans
Currently at only 57% No.
5 Nov
2012: Palin and Patton
If I hear one more person yammer on about Sarah Palin being positioned perfectly for a 2012 presidential bid, I’m going to scream. It’s not going to happen for a couple of reasons.
4 Nov
And while I’m dropping by…
…I’ll go ahead and mix in a prediction.
Across the blogosphere, the wingers are sticking to their story: Liberal media bias, de facto voter suppression, dishonest pollsters, fraudulent registration by ACORN and other groups, and general liberal dishonesty and ribald campaign tactics are the reason their candidate is getting shellacked today. He certainly could not lose [...]
4 Nov
Living in a private universe
As the election gets underway with momentum clearly favoring Barack Obama and Joe Biden, I could not help but reflect on the small but noisy group of conservative bloggers I, by dint of happenstance, wound up crossing verbal swords with when I was actively posting as a member of the Refuge. After all, I wondered [...]
3 Nov
More Elitism
An article from the Buffalo News offers some fuel for the “elitism fire”. From Ohio, we learn of voter George Pounder:
Pounder looks at Obama and sees a Harvard-educated lawyer who talks in fancy words that don’t necessarily resonate with the guys on the factory floor.
“We’re basically blue-collar Democrats, here, and it doesn’t seem like he’s [...]
3 Nov
That Ol’ Liberal Media Bias
I picked up the newspaper the other day and found a short article declaring that the news media have been biased toward Obama and against McCain. The article claims that reporting was favorable to the Democrats about 2/3rds of the time and that the only relatively “equal” outlet was Fox News. Hmmm.
The article referred to [...]
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