Odd Lots
- As I write this mid-afternoon on May 2, 2011, we’re in the thick of something approaching a blizzard here on the slopes of Cheyenne Mountain. This is probably the coldest spring here since we arrived in April 2003. The beautiful warm weather of May, 2002 (when we first discovered Colorado Springs) might have been a fluke. Or maybe this is. No one can tell me.
- Here’s an interesting take on the value of media images as symbols, and to some extent supports what I said yesterday about Bin Laden’s death: We did our best not to leave images around to be turned into revered icons. That, coupled with the native Muslim caution about idolatry, will limit the man’s future power as a martyr.
- Fascinating bit of Old West history: Bass Reeves, one of the most successful US Marshals of his or any era, was black. (Thanks to Nick Hodges for the pointer.)
- VE3EN is losing his job mid-year, and his marvelous solar data aggregator may go dark. That would be a tragedy, though I’m not sure what can be done.
- I think I’m going to make one of these.
- Would a power-cord tethered high-resolution touchscreen all-in-one make a good armchair ebook reader? A smaller unit like this one could be, and would provide enough resolution to read art-heavy PDF-based ebooks without eyestrain, even with old eyes like mine. Now if they’d just allow us to take the legs off…
- Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter are now visible in the east just before sunrise, and if you look quick you’ll see them all. (Mercury is the tricky one.)
- If you like volcanoes, Oregon State University has a nice aggregator for eruption news. There are some terrific photos here, and scary ones.
- Is this what it means to “sit on your brains”?
Posted in: Odd Lots.
Tagged: astronomy · history · humor
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At this very moment, in Calgary, north of you, we are experiencing thunder-flurries: snow and thunder. I’m against it.
And today it was kicking 80F. As an act of faith that the snow is behind us, today I vacuumed up the gravel and sand that the cars tracked into the garage over this past winter. (The city spreads crushed granite grit on the streets to help with traction.) I could be wrong (the weather here’s been cold and screwy the last three years) but I certainly hope not!