Dog is my copilot

Ayaan Hirsi Ali speaks. One of the bravest people ever.

2010-03-05T20:33:00.001-08:00

Notice the threatening calls of "Allahu akabar!" from the college audience as she begins.

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Maybe the greatest music video of all time

2010-03-04T19:57:00.001-08:00

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Carolyn Porco flies us to Saturn | Video on TED.com

2010-03-03T09:45:00.001-08:00

Carolyn Porco flies us to Saturn | Video on TED.com

She is one of my favorite astronomers. She gets so excited!

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Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds | Video on TED.com

2010-03-03T09:02:00.001-08:00

Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds | Video on TED.com

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Daniel Kahneman: The riddle of experience vs. memory | Video on TED.com

2010-03-03T08:54:00.001-08:00

Daniel Kahneman: The riddle of experience vs. memory | Video on TED.com

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Great FREE Software

2010-03-02T18:14:00.000-08:00

First on the list: Glary Utilities

Glary is an incredibly robust free utility. It comes with multiple utilities, optimizers and system tools like...

A great registry cleaner
Disk cleaner
Manage your startup programs
Privacy utilities - including file encryption
Program uninstaller

Much more. No spyware. No adware. Not crippled in any way other than the Pro version allows for scheduled scans and auto-updates. But program functionality is otherwise the same.

I personally use this program about once a week. I have used other registry cleaners - this one is better. I have used other startup managers - this one is better. So far I have found nothing not to like about this utility. It even gives the user quick access to Window's own disk utilities like CheckDisk, System Restore and Defragger.

Check it out! Download Glary Utilities FREE

The Official Incomplete List of Complete Bullshit

2010-02-23T13:13:00.000-08:00

Religion
Homeopathy
Chiropractic
Ghosts
Mental Telepathy e.g ESP, Dowsing, Telekinesis, etc.
Acupuncture
Cold Remedies
Creationism
UFOs e.g. Spaceships Containing Aliens from Another Planet

Organics and Toxins

2008-04-25T05:02:00.000-07:00

Oh for cryin' out loud! I just read an article on AOL Health about diet and weight loss focusing on eating healthy. Peppered throughout almost every paragraph were the words "toxins" and "organic". Ridiculous claims were made that organically grown foods have more nutrients and fewer toxins than conventionally farmed foods. I am obviously not an authority on this. But lemme tell ya... there is no consensus among the "authorities" on this point and I, for one, believe these claims to be completely bogus.

I do not think organic foods are higher in nutrients. If anything, I think the opposite is true. The reason we use pesticides on crops and genetically modify foods is to increase yield and nutritional potency. The only thing organic farming gets you is a higher grocery bill and a delusional feeling in your heart that you are eating better. Why do organic foods cost more? Because bugs and disease have a big hoedown all summer long on every organic farm in the world. It's a PARTY! It's all you can eat and everyone is invited!

As for "toxins"... BULLSHIT! What toxins? This is nothing but a shameless attempt to scare people into eating certain foods and avoiding others. Every stupid infomercial for weight loss programs and dieting supplements rambles on about toxins. And they should ramble on about toxins! I mean... everyone is afraid of toxins, right? Who wants toxins in their body? Toxins are... toxic, right? Don't toxins kill you? I don't want toxins!

Relax! These people are just trying to scare you. And it's working. People are starting to recite these mantras. Everyone now "knows" that processed foods are full of toxins, right? Well, I don't buy it. I will continue to eat GM foods and foods grown using pesticides. I feel fine. I am 46 and I have been eating the stuff all my life. I am healthy. My cholesterol is low. My heart rate is good. My BP is good. My weight ... needs work.

Which brings me to weight loss. Listen folks... it's really simple. If you burn more calories than you consume you will lose weight. If you consume more calories than you burn you will gain weight. It's basic physics. This bullshit about low carb diets and genetic propensities toward obesity is just that... bullshit! If there are correlations between ones genetic make up and obesity it is only because some people have a natural tendency to consume more calories than they burn. And weight loss diets only work when you consume fewer calories than you burn. This is why you will lose weight much faster on any diet if you also include daily exercise in the regime.

So, in conclusion... Don't worry about toxins. Don't feel bad for not buying organically grown foods. If you want to lose weight consume fewer calories than you burn by keeping track of everything you eat and exercising daily. And, most importantly... don't be afraid!

Another day in Florida

2008-03-17T06:48:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine was recently strapped to a seat inside a vehicle that rapidly accelerated him to 17,500 mph. He is now traveling in circles around the planet attached to the International Space Station (ISS). He will be there in space for sixteen days installing the first part of the Japanese science research module, Kibo, and the Canadian dual robotic arm module, Dextre. It's either the second or third longest of all the space shuttle missions. It is his first shuttle mission. Gregory H. Johnson is the pilot and he also operates the shuttle's own robotic arm.

I think the most interesting fact about orbiting the Earth is that the astronauts are not experiencing zero gravity as is commonly thought. They are in fact experiencing a great deal of gravity. They are simply experiencing it in a way the Earthbound never do. The space shuttle (along with the ISS and all other orbiting objects) is constantly falling to Earth. It is only their speed that keeps them from hitting the planet. They are moving so fast that as they fall the Earth's surface is forever curving away from them. So, really what they are experiencing is not zero gravity... but falling. And falling is quite gravity dependent.

I went to Florida, along with my girlfriend and about 130 of Greg's friends and family, to see him lift off. It was a night launch. To be more specific it was an early morning launch; 2:28 a.m., to be exact. The launch was originally scheduled for an afternoon in February but was delayed a month due to a technical issue with the shuttle mission before theirs, which was also delayed a month. I believe they chose the wee hours of March 11 because it was the next opportunity to go, but I don't really know. I know there are other shuttle missions waiting to go after his and the cost of schedule delays must be enormous. The launch window for Greg's shuttle was a mere 10 minutes. If there was a problem during countdown that took more than 1o minutes to solve, the launch would have to be scrubbed. It had already been delayed a month. It had to go tonight.

We arrived at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center for the launch at 10 p.m. and stood in a long line for NASA busses that took about 5,000 of us to the NASA causeway, 6.7 miles across the water from launch pad 39A. The weather was good for launch, though a bit chilly by Florida standards. The sky was partly cloudy and the temperature was about 55. The launch pad and orbiter were lit up with huge arc lights like a movie premier. As we approached the viewing area we could see the bright white light beams stretching up into space as if showing the way. Everyone for many miles around was focused on this one bright spot.

Sitting on our blanket on the NASA causeway Endeavor was impossible to miss. We were looking directly at the top side of the shuttle as it waited to go. It looked fantastic reflected in the water. It seemed like we waited forever in the dark in anticipation and then all of a sudden the countdown was under a minute. Voices from the countdown echoed from unseen speakers and were very difficult to understand from where we sat. It was difficult, but not so difficult that we couldn't recognize Greg's voice reading off checklist items. It was at that point that it all became very very real.

Hearing his voice brought a mix of emotions. Primarily fear and excitement. This was a voice from my childhood as well as my adulthood. We went through junior high and high school together and have seen each other periodically since then, as recently as a year and a half ago, and I will see him again in August. And here he was reading off cryptic checklist phrases from atop the space shuttle. Here was my friend about to live out his lifelong dream... and he could die in a minute. Or two days. Or sixteen days. He is not yet out of danger.

Eight... Seven... Six "Main engine start"... Five... Four... Three... Two... One...

"Liftoff of the shuttle Endeavor!"

It silently lit up all of south Florida in a bright, yellowy light. The exhaust cloud enveloped the orbiter, completely obscuring it. For what seemed like an eternity we waited in that silence for Greg to emerge from the smoke. Then ever so slowly the shuttle's nose pierced through and Endeavor rose out of the fire. It was majestic and exhilarating. It lit up the ground, the water and the clouds above. As it accelerated skyward the sound arrived. A low, loud, popping, crackling rumble. It was simply powerful. About ten seconds into the launch the shuttle began its roll to the right and then it went into the clouds. We could not see, and did not know, that the clouds had closed in before the launch. The sky dimmed and the shuttle was gone from sight. All we had left was the sound of the engines.

Everyone waited, hoping maybe there was a break in the clouds for the shuttle to show itself again. But, it was not to be. The show was over and though it had been a great success, it was disappointingly short lived. There was a pervasive feeling that we had been cheated a little. But, the cheated feeling quickly gave way to the grateful. Applause and whistles began to cut through the now waning engine noise. We humans had done it again.

After the applause died there were only the low sounds of tired people collecting blankets, folding lawn chairs and bus engines starting up. I turned to one of my childhood friends - she and her husband had been seated on the blanket next to us - and the weight of it all was suddenly too heavy for us. We shared a tearful hug and then laughed. It had been so crazy and so scary. It was surreal. We all rode the quiet bus back the visitors center and said our goodbyes there. What a night.

You go, Greg. See you in August, my friend...