Topics pertaining to science and technology, current or future.
As I’ve gotten older and learned more about what’s going on in the world, I’ve been shocked and dismayed at the problems that I see. To the point that I’ve had serious thoughts about avoiding having kids, much as I want them, because bringing them into this kind of world seems to be a disservice …
Continue reading ‘“The story of history is of more for less”’ »
I recently saw this, and having seen several of these disclaimers in the last decade or so, thought it would make a good blog topic. When I first started communicating with BigCo, they had a policy that required an eleven-line legal disclaimer at the end of all e-mails. I know bits are cheap, but these …
I’ve previously mentioned my inability to stay asleep long enough each night. I really need at least seven and a half hours a night, but can rarely get more than six before rising no matter what time I go to bed, like it or not. And yes, I’ve tried melatonin… I don’t recall whether it …
Neat. I’d heard of neutrino detectors in played-out salt mines, but this is far larger. And hopefully far better at its job too.
It seems that we’re finally on the verge of the future we geeks have been dreaming about for the last half-century. Laser spark plugs… how cool is that! 😉
VMware Fusion 3 is a great piece of software, but it has some very annoying quirks. My Linux virtual machine was getting some very annoying delays at times that it shouldn’t have. Compiling a fairly small project resulted in a ridiculous amount of “iowait” time. Even switching folders in my current e-mail program could take …
If asked, I’d have said this wasn’t possible. Just goes to prove that I’m not omniscient. 😉 I wonder what use someone will find for it. The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it. — Harry Emerson Fosdick
You know, there may be a lot of truth to this. But I think there’s more going on there than today’s science alone can explain. I do keep my eyes open around machinery (mechanical, electrical, or electronic), and I tend to understand it very well, by a combination of aptitude, interest, and training. But when …
Continue reading ‘“What Lucky People Do Differently than Unlucky People”’ »
I think the spammer registration problem may be dealt with, at least for the moment. Since I added the new layers of defenses, only one spammer account has gotten through the first layer of registration (which checks its information against multiple online databases of known spammers). It failed the e-mail confirmation step and was auto-deleted …
Odd as it may seem, it’s not such a bad idea. When I was living in Illinois, I heard an offhand remark on a science program that that area of the country was “overdue” for an earthquake already, and that was twenty-five years ago. I don’t know what science might be behind that assertion, but …
Continue reading ‘“Central U.S. prepares for earthquakes”’ »