I was never a fan of Star Trek (except in the sense that, for a time, it was the only thing remotely SF-like on television and you take whatever slim pickins you can get). But I was a fan of him. He held up beautifully into old age, too.
Dog is shot twice but still stops home invasion. (H/T MR) This was a freelance home invasion. Had the thugs been wearing badges, presumably they’d have used large enough calibers to off the pesky mutt.
Verizon makes a sadly hilarious response to the FCC’s “Throwback Thursday” decision to apply steam-engine-and-telegraph standards to the Internet. Get another laugh by clicking on the translation.
Prove your identity to Microsoft or they won’t “allow” you to use their products that you’ve paid for? (H/T cat) The author’s claims about U.S. tech losses thanks to snoopery are right on. Will now be interesting to see how U.S. residents and companies route around the new FCC regulations.
Nice infographics show what’s allowed and what’s not in the four places that have now legalized recreational cannabis.
Jim Bovard’s tribute to Mike McNulty includes full-length versions of Mike’s most important (and heartbreaking) videos. I know nothing so far about how Mike died, but Joseph Baltar, who worked with him, left this comment.
Though I continue to watch the Elio with anticipation, I’ve long been suspicious of their seemingly ironclad claims: $6,800 price, 84-mpg highway, and engineered for a 5-star crash rating. They keep making these claims despite production delays, despite not even having an engine yet, and despite the fact that 5-stars is a very difficult achievement. So call me eager but skeptical. I tend to agree with this Jalopnik article from last fall. And I was wildly disappointed to learn this week that Elio Motors is seeking government money. Sigh.
RIP Mike McNulty. He should be better remembered and more honored than he is. I had the privilege of privately screening Waco: The Rules of Engagement at his home before it was released. I was not ashamed to weep with rage over its revelations.
Apparently, in linking to all those “Mountains of MIT” snowpix of New England in my last links post, I did a disservice to eastern Canada.
Why, in Canada, houses are not only buried to their rooftops and cars driving around with icebergs on top, but in some places the snow is 11 beers* high!
Tip o’ hat to MJR, who’s probably right there “enjoying it all.” Here’s hoping he’s a little too far inland to haven’t gotten 11 beers worth.
Was up all night feeling creaky. Not actually ill; just too sour, achy, and generally uncomfortable to sleep. Useless today. But no doubt I’ll be brilliant (or at least brilliant-er) tomorrow. Would be hard to be less brilliant.
Oscar odds. Being mostly stuck with DVDs that aren’t out yet, I’ve seen very few of these films yet; probably soon. Looking forward to The Imitation Game, Foxcatcher, Birdman, and Kill the Messenger (based on the tragic truth telling of Gary Webb, who fought the fedgov and the major media and lost). Did see and loved The Grand Budapest Hotel. Everybody says Boyhood is going to win best picture, but the weird thing is that nobody ever says anything about it except, “Wow, they took 12 years to film it.” Anybody here seen it?
The Mountains of MIT and other images from parts east. Holy cats, people! Get with the program; it’s still 60 degrees hereabouts. What’s wrong with you guys back there?
From A.G. in comments: the beautiful typeface caught up its designer’s mini-madness.
The Lt. Gov. of Texas asked the Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System to weigh in on campus carry of firearms. Pretty good response (pdf) for a bureaucrat. He nails the central issue: trust. (H/T LarryA)
How one domino the size of a Tic Tac could topple a whole building. I’d like to think this makes a great metaphor for freedom, but even if it doesn’t, it’s a great fun physics fact.
Oh yeah, let’s “fix” I-594 by making exceptions for only ones. ‘Cause you know, only us peasants (e.g. we who don’t work for the state or its cronies) ever commit crimes.
The day long feared has arrived. Samsung warns customers to be careful what they say in the vicinity of their “smart” TVs. And we’re just supposed to lie back and enjoy it now that the loss of privacy is “inevitable.”
The SunSaluter. Interestingly simple concept from one of Peter Thiel’s young Fellows. A solar tracker/water filter. Looks like it would be most effective only in the tropics where the sun always arcs high in the sky. Any comment from you physics guys?
Speaking of physics guys … you may recall my impressively failed experiments with flower pot candle heaters. Engineers predicted the failures ’cause (to put it in kindergarden terms) you can’t get more energy out of a candle than is in the candle in the first place. What you can get out of it, though, is a bunch of money. Provided you give your version of it an “eco” name. (Via S., who notes, “Unless paraffin tea candles have energy density approaching that of highly enriched uranium, it is flat-out impossible to do any meaningful heating with an ounce or three of wax.”)
I suspect that the first thing that’ll happen when you register with NoFlyZone.org to declare your home a no-go for drones … is that various governments will wonder what you have to hide and will target you for drone flights bearing various cams and eventually weapons.
In Washington state and in Colorado, banks (caught between state opportunity and federal terror tactics) struggle to deal with new cannabis businesses.
Well, now those who won’t comply with the outrages of I-594 are not just “extremists” (per Gottlieb) but “a clique of gadflies” (per a Gottlieb henchman). Remember people: if you want a seat at the table so you can help Our Masters arrange the terms of our extermination, always comply-comply-comply with the law. Any law. We don’t care what law. It’s the LAW!
Are mass shootings due to “entitlement culture”? Don’t say it; we all know they’re due to the individual murderers. And yes, the article is anti-gun in a so-soish sort of way. Nevertheless, interesting article that makes good points.
Twenty photos that put the Holocaust in a different light. (H/T Y.B.b.A.)
That DEA surveillance program I linked in the last post? It is/was aimed in part at gun buyers. Even the usually anti-gun ACLU is alarmed.
The anti-Second AmendmentFirst Amendment crowd wants Emily Miller to be fired. Sign the petition to say no to this crass attempt to silence a journalist. (H/T 12)
