Heinlein's List

Okay Garry, shall we set to work on Heinlein's List? I'll put off the "die gallantly" for awhile (hopefully a very very long while), but what about the others? We've both changed diapers. What shall we plan to invade? And then we've got to butcher a hog? This would make for an interesting book . . .

Chicago

I was in Chicago for work on Wednesday; this shot was taken by a friend after dinner after the Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup in almost 50 years. Building at lower left says "HAWKS," building in the middle has Stanley, building at lower right says "LET'S GO HAWKS." It was a fun night to be in town.

I also had a great time at one of the funnest museums in the country--Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. Got up close to a U-boat, a Mercury and an Apollo capsule, and some big ole locomotives, etc.

More cars

These cars are all from “The Art of the Automobile” at the Atlanta High Museum (on loan from MOMA I believe). These were taken on my iPhone so please forgive the quality.




Porsche Speedster




Pierce Arrow




Duesenberg




Mercedes (this was my wife’s favorite)




Alfa Romeo




Remainder of a Porsche prototype




Bugatti with original ostrich skin seats




Aston Martin




Jaguar




Ferrari




Porsche




The first Corvette Stingray

There were a few more, but these were the highlights.

Been away for a while.

I apologize. Some new posts will be added tonight.

Saw a few cars yesterday

Went to the High Museum to see the Art of The Automobile exhibit.



An early Alfa Romeo; one of my favorites on display (Please forgive the iphone quality pic. It's all I had on me). Something about the word Superleggera makes me want to drop everything and race cars.

More to follow when I get some time to post.

Go see it

Good stuff. Been a while since we went to opening night of a summer blockbuster, but it was worth the crowd.

Funny

A couple of funny pics:







Got to be a heavy iPhone/iPad user to get that one.

Plus this:







I never got into the Star Trek versus Star Wars conflict. I always appreciated both.

h/t - Lileks's new site: lint

Quoted for truth

“Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.”

Thomas Jefferson, who accomplished a few things. If only I had one-one hundredth of his drive.

I wonder what's on tv right now...

A glimpse of the future

This sounds awesome. And scary.

-- Posted From My iPad

this is really cool

Posters for episodes of LOST (seasons 1-4, hopefully more to follow).

The finale of Season 3 (shown below) was my favorite episode.








“We have to go back!”

h/t - Lileks

-- Posted From My iPad

The Greater Good (1)

With a little bit of work this will hopefully become a recurring series - hence the (1).

A state assemblyman in New York wants to force all New Yorkers to become organ donors. Force, as in at the barrel of a gun (all laws are such).

Here's a better idea: incentivize organ donation! Offer tax credits, cash payments, whatever, to those that choose to be donors.

You can't tell me that wouldn't increase the availability of viable organs. And piss off fewer people.

-- Posted From My iPad

Calvin on Ritalin

Not sure how old this is, but it's relatively new to me; the more I consider it the sadder it makes me.




My son (or daughter) better be bouncing off the walls crazy before anyone thinks of suggesting Ritalin.

h/t - wherever I found it. Sorry.

-- Posted From My iPad

Congratulations Paul!

Infographic of the week

h/t: Laughing Squid

-- Posted From My iPad

Gone

"Waste makes me angry. And that's all this is...sheer waste!"

Rhett Butler

(it's movie night)

iPad

I'm loving my new iPad. It has been a while since a gadget has grabbed my attention so fully (the iPhone notwithstanding...I've only had it four months). I really haven't been into computers and gadgets over the years but this thing makes me want to learn to program.

The best thing about the iPad is the inspiration it provides. You feel like you're working with a computer from the future. Using your fingers instead of a mouse is just...cool (and surprisingly not a hassle). The onscreen keyboard takes some getting used to but it doesn't take long to get the hang of it. I'm writing this post on it now.

My only complaint so far is the obstacles Apple puts in your way. The primary way to get files on and off the iPad is through itunes, which can be a pain. It makes the iPad less of a computer and more of a peripheral. Some apps such as Airshare and various online storage sites are useful for working around this but why not make it more direct (use that camera connection kit to connect a usb flashdrive)? Importing and exporting via email works also but is not always convenient. In short, the file management and storage will keep it from being your primary computer. It really can be inconvenient.

Also, the software is still lacking. The iWork suite helps but better compatibility with MS Office would be great. Im sure this will be fixed in short order. The app store created a gold rush for mobile phone software development, and iPad specific apps are just getting started. I imagine in a year this thing will be a serious threat to laptops.

There are more drawbacks to be sure, but there are with any device. For the first gen, there is a lot to love.

PS...I gave my three year old my iPhone the other night, and we played Battleship over Bluetooth (I used the iPad). We are living in The Future.

Not much new today

-- Post From My iPad

Real Members of Congress

This is my congressman. No, really. Watch out, Guam.

The joy of sausage

Bacon gets plenty of praise, but let us not forget the joys of sausage. We had a delicious "breakfast for dinner" tonight with creamy scrambled eggs, from-scratch pancakes, savory sausage and plenty of syrup. Ahh, sausage.

Stupid humans

This post is not intended to disparage Mr. Lovelock, but damn...he sure seems to be disparaging me:

"I don't think we're yet evolved to the point where we're clever enough to handle a complex a [sic] situation as climate change," said Lovelock in his first in-depth interview since the theft of the UEA emails last November. "The inertia of humans is so huge that you can't really do anything meaningful."

Think we've accomplished anything meaningful in 90 years?

One of the main obstructions to meaningful action is "modern democracy", he added. "Even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while."

Won't affect him. He won't be around much longer. (Plus Friedman's got his back!)

He thinks only a catastrophic event would now persuade humanity to take the threat of climate change seriously enough, such as the collapse of a giant glacier in Antarctica, such as the Pine Island glacier, which would immediately push up sea level.

"That would be the sort of event that would change public opinion," he said.

Does he mean actual evidence? Even so, it wouldn't be proof of anthropomorphic global warming.

Ending on a good note, I'll give him credit for this bit:

Lovelock. . .added that he has little sympathy for the climate scientists caught up in the UEA email scandal. He said he had not read the original emails – "I felt reluctant to pry" – but that their reported content had left him feeling "utterly disgusted".

"Fudging the data in any way whatsoever is quite literally a sin against the holy ghost of science," he said. "I'm not religious, but I put it that way because I feel so strongly. It's the one thing you do not ever do. You've got to have standards."

Their actions might be called stupid. Perhaps the scientific method is too complex for mere humans?

(alternate close: this interview left me feeling utterly disgusted)