28
Oct 11

Seven Billion Is Such A BIG Number…

Which one are you?

There were 2.5 billion people in the world when I was born in 1947. We are scheduled to hit 7 Billion in the next day or two. That’s almost a three-fold growth in just 64 years. I just hope we can sustain and support the continued logarithmic growth.

I’ve read a couple fictional books about sustaining and supporting an over-populated world. Our increased life expectancy is wonderful, but unfortunately it places even greater burdens on our ability to feed, house, educate, and provide needed medical support.

Something to think about.

Try these books on for size:

Good reading… but be warned: These two books will haunt you long after you’ve read them. Although they are fiction, they are very believable and plausible.


28
Oct 11

Abandoned – Project Flickr: Eerie


28
Oct 11

Stairs – Project Flickr: Eerie


28
Oct 11

Gates: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated

That Bill, you gotta love him.

By James Milstid
Bill Gates recently made a rare appearance at the University of Washington. He talked about how technological advances are coming together for major advances in a couple areas he cares most about these days; education and efforts to help the poor people of the world.

The ensuing question and answer session was most memorable when a student asked him how she could become rich like him.

His answer?

“I can understand wanting to have millions of dollars, there’s a certain freedom, meaningful freedom, that comes with that. But once you get much beyond that, I have to tell you, it’s the same hamburger. Dick’s has not raised their prices enough,” he said, referring to the Seattle-area fast-food chain. “But being ambitious is good. You just have to pick what you enjoy doing.”

I truly appreciate his candid answer. Of course, it’s easy for him to say… he’s worth billions; somewhere around $49 billion. But with all the protests against greedy corporate executives these days, it’s refreshing to hear Mr. Gates speak honestly about being uber-rich.

Continue reading →


28
Oct 11

Just Happened To Be In The Neighborhood…

This radar image of asteroid 2005 YU55 was generated from data taken in April of 2010 by the Arecibo Radar Telescope in Puerto Rico. (Credit: NASA/Cornell/Arecibo)

NASA in Final Preparations for Nov. 8 Asteroid Flyby

ScienceDaily (Oct. 28, 2011) — NASA scientists will be tracking asteroid 2005 YU55 with antennas of the agency’s Deep Space Network at Goldstone, Calif., as the space rock safely flies past Earth slightly closer than the moon’s orbit on Nov. 8. Scientists are treating the flyby of the 1,300-foot-wide (400-meter) asteroid as a science target of opportunity — allowing instruments on “spacecraft Earth” to scan it during the close pass.

Tracking of the aircraft carrier-sized asteroid will begin at 9:30 a.m. local time (PDT) on Nov. 4, using the massive 70-meter (230-foot) Deep Space Network antenna, and last for about two hours. The asteroid will continue to be tracked by Goldstone for at least four hours each day from Nov. 6 through Nov. 10. Radar observations from the Arecibo Planetary Radar Facility in Puerto Rico will begin on Nov. 8, the same day the asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth at 3:28 p.m. PST.

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28
Oct 11

He really said that?

12 Misunderstood and Misquoted Shakespearean Expressions

By Mark Nichol
The plays of William Shakespeare provide a wealth of pithy sayings — many of which he likely popularized rather than produced himself, though we may still be grateful to him for sharing them. Unfortunately, sometimes the original sense is adulterated by careless usage, so that the eloquent force of the expression is weakened. Here are a dozen of Shakespeare’s phrases with comments about their original wording and meaning:

“At one fell swoop”
This phrase from Macduff’s grief-stricken lamentation about the murder of his family in Macbeth uses the archaic word fell, meaning “fierce,” to extend the metaphor of the perpetrator (who he calls a “hell-kite”) as a bird of prey. Modern usage is generally more casual and even comical.

“Brave new world”
This phrase from a speech by Miranda, daughter of the wizard Prospero in The Tempest, naively uses brave in the sense of “handsome” when she first lays eyes on other men. The subtext in Shakespeare is that those she refers to are superficially attractive but substantially deficient in character. The sense is the same in the phrase as it appears in the title of Aldous Huxley’s dystopian classic. Unfortunately, the dark sarcasm is being dulled by use of the phrase to blithely herald a bright future.

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27
Oct 11

Herman Cain: “They came after me like I had talked about their momma!

Herman Cain: ‘I Gotta Fight Romneycare and Get the Nomination’

By Susan Archer
Herman Cain skipped a RNC gala in Washington D.C. tonight to speak at the sold out Nueces County Republican Women’s Dinner in Corpus Christi. Following a private fundraiser in his honor, Cain talked about his 9-9-9 plan and railed against the Obama administration and a healthcare plan he said the American people did not want.

“Back in early 1990s”, Cain said, “I had to fight Hillarycare and be an outspoken voice against Hillarycare. During the passage of Obamacare, I had to fight Obamacare and he passed it anyway against the will of the people. So it seems as if many of my years have been fighting some kind of care. Hillarycare, Obamacare, and now I gotta fight Romneycare and get the nomination.”

Continue reading →


27
Oct 11

Buh-bye Seattle Alaskan Way Viaduct…

Time-lapse video of Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct coming down

The folks at the Puget Sound Business Journal had a bird’s-eye view of the Alaskan Way Viaduct demolition this week, and photographer Marcus Donner documented the controversial roadway’s demise one picture at a time.

The journal’s offices are based in the downtown Norton Building, and that’s where Donner set up his camera. From the building’s 13th floor, he took a photo every two or three minutes for five days to make this video.

The viaduct was deemed unsafe and unfit to survive a major earthquake. It’s been a very controversial and politically heated debate as to how to replace it. The proposals ranged from a new surface boulevard to a new viaduct to a tunnel. The tunnel camp won the debate, but many Seattleites are unhappy about it.


27
Oct 11

Rick, Rick, Rick…

Thank you Nan!


27
Oct 11

Monster – Project Flickr: Eerie