heiser.net

Weekend Roundup

Christopher Heiser — 2012-02-06T12:59:00-08:00

NASA used accelerometers and strobing to fix instrument readability issues in the (now defunct) Ares I rocket.

Here's a really big diesel engine that was used as backup power at a racetrack in France.

Neil Young comes out in favor of music piracy. Or at least tacit acceptance.

RFID

Christopher Heiser — 2012-02-04T16:44:08-08:00

Don't worry about RFID. It's secure! So secure that credit card companies flip out when MythBusters shoot an episode on the subject--and lean on the Discovery Channel until the piece gets binned. Awesome.

Graphs, Distortion, and Trends

Christopher Heiser — 2012-02-04T15:49:00-08:00

A few years ago Nanci Pelosi used the following chart to illustrate the job market and its performance over the Bush and Obama years:

During this same time, Fox "News" took this very same data and horribly distorted it until it fit the narrative they were trying for. It just goes to show that any data can be "presented" in a light that supports the point you're trying to make. You can see this in politics, business, or other highly competitive fields.

After reading all this I dug up the latest numbers on employment. While this chart isn't corrected for population growth, the trend is pretty obvious. The GOP is going to have a hard time running against these trends, especially if the official unemployment number drops below 8%.

Washing Machine Suicide

Christopher Heiser — 2012-02-04T17:05:34-08:00

Muppets Response to Fox

Christopher Heiser — 2012-02-04T16:16:03-08:00

One More Nail in the Coffin

Christopher Heiser — 2012-02-02T3:23:18-08:00

One of the favorite pseudoscientific attacks on global warming (and climate change in general) doesn't even address the evidence that greenhouse gases are driving the rise in average surface temperature. Instead, it suggests that the warming is coming from increased solar output or some other imaginary energy source outside our atmosphere.

Well, those troublemakers at NASA decided to compare the solar output (at a relative low from 2005 to 2010) to the heat retained by the Earth. Guess what? The retained heat rose while the energy of the Sun fell.

Game-set-match? Maybe not, but let's see the naysayers dispute a nice empirical analysis like this one.

Random Roundup

Christopher Heiser — 2012-01-30T18:44:00-08:00

Someone recently asked me why my posting on heiser.net is so sporadic, and what my process was. It's fairly simple: when I read an article I like and intend to share, I leave the tab open in Firefox. When the browser starts to crash under the weight of open tabs, I blog. Simple!

So here we go. I'm really amazed at the ability of Israel to float trial balloons for their foreign policy. The recent series of articles in the New York Times on Israel's imminent bombing campaign in Iran reads like a user experience test or campaign focus group. Groups that support a competing narrative should really take note.

But let's not forget Russia. A major battle is shaping up between Putin and the new business class. You will see some really weird things happen that are an attempt to shift focus away from domestic issues, like saber rattling over imaginary conflicts in space and other nonsense.

In other sad nonsense, some very smart people have been hoodwinked into joinging the carbon deniers in their misguided efforts. Burt Rutan is a pioneer, a family friend, and an amazing engineer. I can't fathom why he's on board with this.

P2P networking is still an area of intense development. I like this. Anything that decentralizes control of the Internet is a good thing. I also like the Darknet effort that's sprung up on Reddit but some people make decent arguments that mesh networking may not work effectively when taken to scale. We'll have to see.

As usual, Bruce Schneier's website has great content. From there I found an article on how traditional war and cyber war differ in fundamental ways. It seems like a space that's in dire need of a seminal book.

From an interview with Roger Waters I ran across an audio track of FDR speeches railing against the industrial war complex, organized business, and a host of other social problems. I haven't listened to many historical oratory but I was really impressed at how well this mapped into 2012. (Thanks to Steve for the link.)

I love aspirational brands. A recent interview with Thierry Stern of Patek Philippe was really fun. Patek isn't saving the world, but I love that we humans have a such a deep desire to create exceptional and artistic objects. MB&F is another example, and their fascination with artistic inspiration is something I share.

Krugman

Christopher Heiser — 2012-01-18T3:31:23-08:00

Submitted without comment.

Wipeout For Real?

Christopher Heiser — 2012-01-08T21:00:18-08:00

Is this real?

More Gifts, Please

Christopher Heiser — 2011-12-29T1:41:00-08:00

Okay, scratch the QuadCopter. I'll take these at what will probably be a $5M auction. (Thanks to Nick for the link!)

Christmas List for 2012

Christopher Heiser — 2011-12-28T15:52:53-08:00

It's this:

Sony Nex7 Test on the Cinestar 6 from Quadrocopter on Vimeo.

Monthly Roundup

Christopher Heiser — 2011-12-20T7:12:00-08:00

Christopher Hitchens died. His essay on North Korea was forwarded around following the death of Kim Jong-Il. It's classic Hitchens.

The Patek 5013 Repeater showed up on one of my watch blogs. At over 500 parts it's a incredible masterpiece. The 5059 is more handsome, but the complexity of the 5013 is stunning.

Blanco showed me a link to Louis CK's Reddit session which was very cool. His internet comedy special made real money. Not sure if this is a game changer yet for the industry, but I'm thrilled it worked for him.

Bill Keller's thoughtful essay on Pakistan is a well balanced approach to understanding the problem we face in a realistic manner.

The drone fiasco continues, and there are some new and interesting analyses of the event.

Finally, a group of people that make me look like way less of a fashion whore: The Ainsworth.