Monthly archive for June2014 - page 4

Those sly devils at NASA have been working quietly behind the scenes perfecting their design for a faster than light starship.  According to this article in the UK Daily Mail, NASA reveals warp drive spacecraft designs!  The most important research hurdles have been cleared, and therefore we may be traveling to interstellar destinations in only  a few hundred years.

It has been theorized that faster than light travel is impossible in much the same way it was believed that the sound barrier was impenetrable, but recent breakthroughs have completely changed how the public and journalists view the likelihood of achieving this goal;  We now know that important breakthroughs have brought this accomplishment to the very brink of realization.  The first step toward making this dream a reality was drawing a picture of the proposed spaceship.  Scientists must have said “how can we create warp drive if we don’t have a drawing of a cool spaceship?” Crossing this threshold was such an important first step, artist Mark Rademaker was chosen to complete the task.

Only with this accomplished could the next logical progression  take place, which was to make a movie about interstellar travel.  Not just any movie about how interstellar travel is possible.  A movie showing that interstellar travel is imperative!  To Save Mankind!  With this achievement within reach, only one barrier remains – the discovery of an energy source for the ship.  Scientists are hard at work and have already eliminated some candidates such as Unobtainium and Doesntexistium as not feasible due to their imaginary nature.  After exhausting the search for illusory energy sources, researchers zeroed on on things that actually exist – space and time.  And though there is no process for rendering them into energy, they have achieved the important first step of giving the process a name: “switching on the field”.  This name was chosen for it’s speculative smooth acceleration curve, which also would yield the benefit of allowing the craft to be without seatbelts in order to save precious weight:

“The process of going to warp is also one that is smooth, rather than using a massive amount of acceleration in a short amount of time.  ‘When you turn the field on, everybody doesn’t go slamming against the bulkhead, which would be a very short and sad trip,’ Dr White said.”

Now at last mankind is poised to leap into the great unknown and spread our wisdom, entertainment media and advertising to the farthest reaches of the cosmos!  But can we afford to wait several decades or more to ensure our survival against all those bad things humans have done that will surely wipe us out?  Is it wise to just sit back and hope we make it before Gaia unleashes her certain and terrible revenge upon us?  We have no choice but to wait and find out.

Cross Posted at Men Out Of Work Blog

If there is anyone out there who hasn’t given up on me yet, you may now be a step closer to doing so.  I hear you asking “what is he on about with ignoring the sand in the crotch of life’s swimsuit?”

In my never ending quest to find subjects about which to write or areas where truth may be sought out, I read a blog post at Althouse entitled Why Should We Succumb To What Virginia Postrel Calls The “Seduction” and “Glamour” Of Travel, which was in turn about an article called The Glamour of Getting Away by Virginia Postrel on Medium.com.  One of the points in Postrel’s article which sparked debate at Althouse was an assertion that the “glamour” of travel is what “seduces” us to do it, and that certain air of illusion must be crafted so the aura of glamour isn’t tarnished.  And that illusion of glamour is essential lest we not be seduced.   From the article:

“Glamour can rightly be only a guide, not a destination. If you expect your vacation to be a series of perfectly composed still photos, with no sandy bathing suits, sore feet, or fellow tourists, you won’t have a good time.” 

And then what?  We couldn’t be seduced into traveling anymore?  Not everyone needs to be seduced into traveling – I know I don’t.  A man needn’t be seduced by that which he desires.  I like to travel.  I also like living.  And life, like travel, involves a certain amount of glossing over inconvenient, unattractive or unsavory…*ahem*…circumstances.

Does Postrel have a point in asserting that absent the “glamour” of travel and our vulnerability to it’s seductive charms, we won’t enjoy ourselves?  Indeed is it possible at all to enjoy anything unless we are seduced by the glamour of it?  Will we only partake of those life experiences that can seduce us into action?  Concupiscence aside, I don’t believe that’s so.

To each his own motivations.  Some people may choose to travel, some may not.  If you don’t like taking your shoes off at the airport, or if the prospect of unpleasant odors at your destination chagrines you, then you probably won’t travel.

But if life is a journey, will you stay home?  Because if you want to live your life like a day at the beach – you’ll need to ignore the sand in your shorts.

…you don’t think you need to know.

I will start at the end of this story and work my way to the beginning.  Why be normal, I always say sometimes.  I found out that you may need to know things you don’t think you need to know on my first trip abroad when I rented a car in Ireland.  The choices were all manuals – no automatics.  Oh…and right hand drive.  That means the driver sits in the “passenger” seat and operates the shift lever with the left hand.  Alllrriiight….and you drive on the left hand side of the road.  Drive safely now!  At least the clutch pedal was still on the left.  Also – 99% of the roads predate automobiles and so they are exactly the width of 2 cars, minus 18″.  It’s a little better in towns where the deficit is a mere 8″ to 10″.  For as many cars as there were without automatic transmissions, there were just as many without driver side rearview mirrors – just the little wires hanging out where the mirror used to be!  Probably from encounters with the occasional large BMW sedan or busses.  But, because I knew how to drive a stick, I said “I can do this!” – and I did.  The rental car had both mirrors intact when I turned it in.

Driving a stick is not a problem for me – I learned to drive in a car with a manual transmission and never owned a car with an automatic until I had been driving for along time.  I am an afficionado of high performance cars and the words “automatic transmission” and “high perfomance car” do not go together.  But the older I get, the more I do appreciate an automatic.  Anyhoo, where I am going with this is – your preference may be a matter of choice.  Or not.  Especially if you are traveling overseas.  If you are traveling overseas chances are you will be renting a car since the completion of the undersea highway system is still some years off.  And if you are renting a car, you will likely be…that’s right: driving a stick.

I believe this falls under the heading of “be prepared”.  Dirty Harry said: “A man’s got to know his limitations”.  And if one of his (or her) limitations is “I can’t drive that car because it not an automatic” then that’s pretty lame.  I think that’s called a first world problem.  What got me started on this?  When I read two different and seemingly unrelated articles today, one at Althouse about travel and the other at The Art Of Manliness about how to drive a stickshift it reminded me of a time when I was traveling and had to drive a stickshift – the beginning.

Oh, and Bill Cosby:

I did not forget (nor should you) the June 6th Anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy  that was the beginning of the end of World War II.  This year marked the 70th Anniversary.  My heartfelt thanks go out to all who took part in any way, be they living or dead.  Thank You.

They probably don’t teach much about World War II in schools these days.  Young people would be wise to study this time period on their own, or you should help any young people you know to learn about it.  There are excellent resources available, many decent documentaries on cable tv every day.These were times of true existential crises, not the puffed up pretend dangers of today.  To learn about the past is to appreciate how good you have it today because people then had the strength to see things through to a positive conclusion.  Virtually everyone sacrificed in some way and millions of non-combatants died.  So: Remember!

cross posted at Men Out of Work Blog

There are usually threads that run through the various aspects of my life, connecting them into one giant…big giant connected thing.  I’ll have to think about that and come back to it.  Anyhoo…that is true with my likes in music, too.  One of the bands I like is Asia, two of the members come from other bands I like.  The drummer, Carl Palmer is of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.  Greg Lake of ELP was briefly part of Asia as well.  The guitarist, Steve Howe is from YES.  Not a lot else to say about this one…aging rockers all a round, but they can still play.  Here’s Asia live performing Sole Survivor.  Lotta bald spots in the audience – and that’s the women!  Badda-Bing!.  A  sign of the times I guess.

Since I was the youngest of four siblings I was influenced by the music my brother and sisters listened to.  Eventually I got old enough to discern my own musical tastes – I remember asking my father to buy me a record – a single or a 45 of  The Animals  “Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” when I was about 9 years old, my first acquisition of music that was my own.

I was fortunate in that my older brother with whom I shared a room was also interested in music and so had a record player, later a stereo, and some music.  I had his stereo to play my music on and his collection to listen to.  Since I usually destroyed most of his stuff like little brothers often do, I’m sure I scratched most of his records and roached a few of the stereo’s needles.  Of course there was no malice aforethought – but still – sorry Ted!  However, most of the time it was the radio that supplied the music.  When I say radio, I mean AM Top 40 radio as that was the format of that era.  And that was enough for some years, but as the sixties waned, the music scene was evolving too.  Stereo setups became a little more sophisticated, usually incorporating a tuner/amplifier with an FM band.  FM stations began to spring up with what was known as album-oriented formats or free form programming.  Bottom line is there were no playlists, the DJs played pretty much whatever they wanted.  The first one I was exposed to was KSAN, a San Fransisco station – as I recall it was because the father of a high school friend of mine had a Cadillac with an FM radio.  A little later, local station KZAP came along.  These stations provided access to progressive or alternate rock like Genesis, YES, Emerson, Lake &Palmer, etc. that was never heard on AM because of the Top 40 format.  AM radio was still very much alive, however, since most cars only had AM radios and we kids were still a few years off from our own cars and having money for after market sound sysytems.  Eventually the free form FM format died out, apparently not commercial enough to succeed.  No matter – the internet was born.  Thank you Al Gore!  I couldn’t do this without YouTube!

So you have a little glimpse into what happened to turn me into the maladjusted developmentally arrested freak I am today.  Did I say that out loud?  What I meant is now you know why I subject you to these music offerings each Friday.  If you have a music question, a band you’d like to know more about or a song request, leave it in the comments – I’ll do what I can.

Here’s a little of that ELP – don’t be frightened!  This is on the mellow side.  You’ll see it’s all clear…You were meant to be here…from the beginning

When I read the headline The Dawn of a Robot Revolution as Army of Machines Escape the  Factory, I confess that  my imagination took me back in time to this:

That’s me. No, not the robot. The robot karate dude

I imagined hordes of malevolent robots escaping their factories, bent on revenge and mayhem against their creator-oppressors.  But in reading the story, it turns out that the revolution is in how and where robotics are used instead of human labor.  A more accurate headline might have been something like “Increasing number of benign machines make cost effective replacement of human labor with robotics more commonplace outside of traditional industrial factory settings”.  However…that loses a little of it’s ooomph…the revised headline could possibly be used to sedate a large animal.  How about you?  Still awake?  Good.

As I like to say, just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get me.  And so the robot conspiracy may yet be underway regardless.  I have heard that robots are a patient lot.  I’d keep an eye on that Automatic Cow Milking Machine if I were you.

Oh..and since it’s Music Friday:

Today we are learning that a bill in the California State Senate will require written or verbal consent between two students before engaging in sexual activity on campus.  I’ll pause so you can let that sink in for a minute….the state will require two individuals to obtain written or verbal consent before having sex on campus.  Nothing in there about body language.

SB 967 was introduced by Kevin DeLeon (D. Los Angeles) – wait – I thought it was the evil Republicans who wanted to legislate bedroom activity – in response to an alleged epidemic of sexual assaults on campuses nationwide.  This is another example of the ability of California Democrats to hone in on a problem like a laser with logic so tightly reasoned there is no reasonable argument that can be made against their postion.  It goes like this:  there is an undisputed rape epidemic on our college campuses.  Undisputed.  Wait – you dispute it?  You are pro-rape.  The existing laws on the books regarding sexual misconduct are not working – we need another law.  Problem solved.  Your Welcome.

The proposed law is a virtually impenetrable (no pun intended) force field against reckless or unlawful college student sexual activity.  The law only covers sex acts committed on campus.  DIABOLICAL!  No one will figure a way around that.  It requires written or verbal consent.  Aren’t most of these guys attorneys?  The first thing you learn in pre-pre law (which is watching Law & Order) is that a verbal agreement isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.  I’m surpised they don’t require a time stamp on that verbal agreement.  Well, at least it’s for the children.  It is for the children isn’t it?  It’s gotta be.  Yeah, it’s for the Children.  What’s the matter?  You don’t like children?  Pro-rape child hater.

…is that he had a commercial whiskey distillery at Mount Vernon.  George Washington was, first and foremost in his mind, a farmer.  And while he  was described by his contemporaries as not neccessarily the most gifted intellect, he was an excellent judge of character, had a habit of surrounding himself with intelligent people and listening to them.  And so it was that in 1797, after his presidency, he hired a scottish plantation manager named James Anderson who in his duties as manager of the Mount Vernon plantation saw an opportunity.  Washington was always studying methods of agriculture, and had adopted the planting of cover crops of Rye as a means of fostering healthy soil.   Typically cover crops had little commercial value, their purpose as a rotational crop  was to preserve the soil for the real growing season’s crop of wheat or corn.  Since Mount Vernon already had a state of the art gristmill and plentiful water, Anderson suggested the the rye could be  used to make whiskey.

How Did George Washington Make Whiskey? from Mount Vernon on Vimeo.

After a successful trial in 1798,  a full fledged distillery was built in 1798.  By 1799  it was the largest distillery in the young country, producing 11,000 gallons.  Washington died in 1799 and his nephew, to whom the distillery passed, continued to operate it until it burned in 1814, after which it was never rebuilt.  In the 1990s the distillery was reconstructed, and is producing even today.  Production is limited – you can buy George Washington Straight Rye Whiskey® if you happen to be at Mount Vernon on the few days a year it is available.  Virginia law dictates that all sales must be in person.

Here are a few of my own pictures of Mount Vernon.  Click on the picture to enlarge

Life size bronze sculpture of George and Martha Washington and Washington’s two step grandchildren in the lobby of the visitor’s center, greeting guests.

The stately house as approached from the front

A view of the Potomac River looking out from the back porch of the house

The rear of the house which faces the Potomac River

Geoerge Washington’s great-grandfather came into possession of the property in 1674, Washington becoming the sole proprietor in 1761.  The house was built in phases beginning in 1758, continuing until 1778.  After Washington’s death, the property passed through a series of relatives, but deslined due to poor maintenance.  The Mount Vernon Ladies Association purchased the estate in 1859, and it was not designated a National Historic Landmark until 1960.

Much more information here at the Mount Vernon Plantation Wikipedia page

…or a fad.  This movement has been evolving for centuries.

For many people, myself included, the concept of wearable technology – wearables for short – is taking things a little too far.  Do we really need “smart” watches so we can post to social media at any second?  Is Google Glass essential to function in business or socially?  Today, I say “NO”.  But what will be my answer in 2,3,5 or 10 years from now?

For some proper context, let’s go back in time (no pun intended) and look at the early, if not the first wearables: pocket watches.  Precise timekeeping was not commonplace before the medieval period, and I’m sure people got along just fine by observing the position of the sun.  But as clocks became  more and more prevalent, so did timekeeping assume a more predominant role in aiding commerce and organizing a growing and more complex society.  As society progressed, punctuality became not just desirable but inceasingly essential and the pocket watch evolved into the wristwatch.  A person wearing a wristwatch was making a statement that they were a serious, modern, productive person.  Perhaps even a moral person.

So the question may be, does a need drive the technology, or does the advent of the technology reveal a need?  Or indeed create a need?  Certainly in the middle ages when the first bells tolled to mark the hours, someone said “what do we need that for?”.  Then, “why could anyone possibly need to carry (later wear) a watch?” Now fast forward – I know that when cellular phones began to be common in the 1990s, I was a doubter.  Yet today everyone including our children view them as a neccessity.  And so it will likely be with smartwatches and wearable computers.

But didn’t we become slaves to the clock?  Many have argued so.  Have our smartphones evolved from capable servants to unrelenting masters?  The epidemic of people unable to ignore the devices even for a few minutes to concentrate on important tasks such as driving suggest it may be true.  Then what of our newest “toys”?  What hell do they have in store for us?  And what about future as yet undreamed of technology?  What price will we pay for them?

So the new fad isn’t a fad or so new either.  And though I find myself once again skeptical of the new technology, I will no doubt be sporting it myself in a few years.  But must we be damned to losing another little slice of our soul to each succeeding generation of technology?  Sadly, I think this is one question to which I can answer “yes”.

Cross posted at Men Out of Work Blog