Michael Flynn's Blog, page 82
December 17, 2009
Today in History
The Wright Stuff Today, 106 years ago, a couple of bicycle mechanics from Ohio took their motorized kite to North Carolina to test their new "wing warping" idea. It worked pretty well. Thanks, guys!
My grandfather was almost 4 when that happened. Before he died, he watched men walk on the moon. From his living room.
The First Birthday Alone
I never has a birthday of my own until late in high school. The reason for this is simple. My brother Dennis was born on this day, a full 362...
My grandfather was almost 4 when that happened. Before he died, he watched men walk on the moon. From his living room.
The First Birthday Alone
I never has a birthday of my own until late in high school. The reason for this is simple. My brother Dennis was born on this day, a full 362...
Untergang des Abendlandes
The Loss of Reason and the Triumph of the Will
Regarding Sherlock Holmes and Pelham 1-2-3.....
The Age of Reason reached its zenith in the Middle Ages, when logic and reason became virtually the only genre of serious writing, The Question format was the dialectic: once one had decided a question, the write up would be formatted as follows:
1. The Question to be demonstrated. "Whether X....."
2. Antitheses: The principle Objections against the question. "It would seem not...
Regarding Sherlock Holmes and Pelham 1-2-3.....
The Age of Reason reached its zenith in the Middle Ages, when logic and reason became virtually the only genre of serious writing, The Question format was the dialectic: once one had decided a question, the write up would be formatted as follows:
1. The Question to be demonstrated. "Whether X....."
2. Antitheses: The principle Objections against the question. "It would seem not...
December 16, 2009
You Can't Make This Stuff Up
The Wurst Is Yet To Come
Salami battle in supermarket leaves Germans in hospital -- Headline, The Telegraph (UK)
I guess they sell some pretty mean salamis over there in Germany. But the use of a Parmesan cheese as a shield is novel.
Salami battle in supermarket leaves Germans in hospital -- Headline, The Telegraph (UK)
I guess they sell some pretty mean salamis over there in Germany. But the use of a Parmesan cheese as a shield is novel.
December 15, 2009
The Wonderful World of Stats, redux
Job Creation
"President Barack Obama's clean-energy initiatives will help create more than 700,000 jobs and allow the U.S. to double its renewable-power generation in three years, according to a report by Vice President Joe Biden," Bloomberg reports. www.bloomberg.com/apps/news
"President Barack Obama's clean-energy initiatives will help create more than 700,000 jobs and allow the U.S. to double its renewable-power generation in three years, according to a report by Vice President Joe Biden," Bloomberg reports. www.bloomberg.com/apps/news
All of the job estimates used in this document correspond to jobs that last for one year. Of course, some jobs could last longer--in this case the number of distinct jobs would be reduced proportionately. For example...
The Wonderful World of Stats
Beware of Television
It not only destroys the mind, it can kill a child.
[image error]
Now we are talking about 180 deaths per year, each one a tragedy. A similar report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission last year estimated 42,700 injuries and 180 deaths associated with appliance, furniture and television instability and tip-overs from 2000 to 2006; 87 of the deaths involved televisions. The number rose from seven in 2000 to 23 in 2006.
abcnews.go.com/Technology/wirestory
It was unclear from ...
It not only destroys the mind, it can kill a child.
[image error]
Now we are talking about 180 deaths per year, each one a tragedy. A similar report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission last year estimated 42,700 injuries and 180 deaths associated with appliance, furniture and television instability and tip-overs from 2000 to 2006; 87 of the deaths involved televisions. The number rose from seven in 2000 to 23 in 2006.
abcnews.go.com/Technology/wirestory
It was unclear from ...
Thought for the Day
Learning to Play the Game
One of Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" is to force your enemies to play by their own rules. Danae knows how to make the teacher feel guilty.
OTOH, adverbs really are to be avoided in writing. "The verb should be sufficient unto the task," he said softly.
Nay! To whisper is better said than to say softly!
On Cultural Literacy, Part II
It occurs to me that a large number of people today won't "get" this one unless they know what a pair of Wellingtons are.
One of Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" is to force your enemies to play by their own rules. Danae knows how to make the teacher feel guilty.
OTOH, adverbs really are to be avoided in writing. "The verb should be sufficient unto the task," he said softly.
Nay! To whisper is better said than to say softly!
On Cultural Literacy, Part II
It occurs to me that a large number of people today won't "get" this one unless they know what a pair of Wellingtons are.
December 12, 2009
Science Marches On
It's all a matter of perspective
NOAA ice core data presented in successively longer time frames.
h/t Wattsupwiththat
The source images can be found here: wattsupwiththat.com/2009/12/12/historical-video-perspective-our-current-unprecedented-global-warming-in-the-context-of-scale/#more-14034
Note: Ice core data is no more recent than 1900 for the excellent reason that more recent snow has not fully compacted into ice yet. The instrumental record has been added in red and is labeled. This diff...
NOAA ice core data presented in successively longer time frames.
h/t Wattsupwiththat
The source images can be found here: wattsupwiththat.com/2009/12/12/historical-video-perspective-our-current-unprecedented-global-warming-in-the-context-of-scale/#more-14034
Note: Ice core data is no more recent than 1900 for the excellent reason that more recent snow has not fully compacted into ice yet. The instrumental record has been added in red and is labeled. This diff...
Check and Mate
The Squares of the City
John Brunner wrote a book entitled The Squares of the City in which two rivals for control of a South American country, neither willing to see their beloved land ruined by civil war, agree to play a chess match for its control. But the chess match is played with human beings who are manipulated into making "moves" by subliminal persuasion via the state-controlled media. [Subliminal persuasion is supposedly the SF component. Perhaps it is fantasy, not SF.:]
Anyhow, Br...
John Brunner wrote a book entitled The Squares of the City in which two rivals for control of a South American country, neither willing to see their beloved land ruined by civil war, agree to play a chess match for its control. But the chess match is played with human beings who are manipulated into making "moves" by subliminal persuasion via the state-controlled media. [Subliminal persuasion is supposedly the SF component. Perhaps it is fantasy, not SF.:]
Anyhow, Br...
Science Marches On
Two Waves or One?
There are black races in Asia that is rather distinct from the black races in Africa. These are the Negritos of the islands and coastal areas: the Andaman Islands, parts of coastal India, New Guinea, Australia, Melanesia, and so on. The theory has always been that these were the results of coastal canoers leaving East Africa and settling in the coastal niches of southern and southeast Asia.
"Later," this theory runs, a second wave came along a more northerly land route and...
There are black races in Asia that is rather distinct from the black races in Africa. These are the Negritos of the islands and coastal areas: the Andaman Islands, parts of coastal India, New Guinea, Australia, Melanesia, and so on. The theory has always been that these were the results of coastal canoers leaving East Africa and settling in the coastal niches of southern and southeast Asia.
"Later," this theory runs, a second wave came along a more northerly land route and...
The Wisdom of the Ages
Thought for the Day
h/t Ed Feser edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2009/12/misinformation-campaign.html
Actually, it is all around us. Glass shatters in the way it does because of its brittle nature; and it is brittle because it shatters the way it does. Heavy bodies fall in a certain way because of a force called gravity; and we can verify gravity by observing the fall of heavy bodies.Species are reproductively successful if they are better fit for their niche by natural selection; and we can verify...
h/t Ed Feser edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2009/12/misinformation-campaign.html
Actually, it is all around us. Glass shatters in the way it does because of its brittle nature; and it is brittle because it shatters the way it does. Heavy bodies fall in a certain way because of a force called gravity; and we can verify gravity by observing the fall of heavy bodies.Species are reproductively successful if they are better fit for their niche by natural selection; and we can verify...
Michael Flynn's Blog
- Michael Flynn's profile
- 237 followers
Michael Flynn isn't a Goodreads Author
(yet),
but they
do have a blog,
so here are some recent posts imported from
their feed.
