Monthly Archives: January 2009

Tons of Bricks Lighter

Posted on by
Reply

By Vincent Guarisco

January 23, 2009

“When authoritarian forces seize control of a government, they typically move first against the public’s access to information, under the theory that a confused populace can be more easily manipulated. They take aim at the radio stations, TV and newspapers. In the case of George W. Bush in 2001, he also took aim at historical records, giving himself and his family indefinite control over documents covering the 12 years of his father’s terms as President and Vice President. It was, therefore, significant that one of Barack Obama’s first acts as President was to revoke the Bush Family’s power over that history and to replace it with an easier set of regulations for accessing the records.” ~Robert Parry 1/22/09 (Consortium News) Continue reading →

Oral History

Posted on by
Reply

From Doug’s Dyanmic Drivel

A Must Read

23 January, 2009 (20:44) | Political

If you only read one article this weekend (ya right like that’s going to happen eh :) ) this oral history of the Bush years, in , is an absolute must. It’s 14 pages long though so grab a cup of joe, take your laptop to a comfy chair and settle in for a very good read as you “listen” to real toss the Bush cabal under the bus, over and over again.

Go read the selected quotes at Doug Alder at Doug’s Dynamic Drivel and you’ll for sure want to read the rest.

Air Traffic Creeps Towards Gridlock

Posted on by

As Congress Stalls, Air Traffic Creeps Toward Gridlock

From Wired

Congress still hasn’t agreed on how to fund the Federal Aviation Administration, which means the agency will keep muddling through on a shoestring budget that keeps the lights on but does nothing to prevent the air traffic meltdown everyone knows is coming.

There’s little chance Congress will approve a reauthorization package before the stop-gap measure that’s been paying the bills expires in March. The reauthorization lays out a blueprint for meeting the air transportation system’s needs and creates the mechanism to pay for it. Another six-month extension would cover the FAA’s operating expenses, but it wouldn’t finance the improvements that must be made. Topping the list is the NextGen air traffic control network that will replace a system built on World War II technology. Getting the $20 billion system in place is imperative. Without it, the FAA says the nation’s air traffic control system will be effectively gridlocked by 2015.

Read the rest at Wired

Waddaya Gonna Do

Posted on by
Reply

by Mary Pitt

Waddya gonna do when you’ve gone about as far as you can go? You want to open a window and yell, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more!” But, where you live there is nobody to hear you. Go ahead, yell your fool head off but there are none to hear and, if anybody does, they don’t care.

Continue reading →

The View from the Bottom

Posted on by
Reply

by Mary Pitt

The greatest problem as the new President and the Congress attempt ro enact remedies to the very real problems of the poor, the disabled, and the laboring class, (not the much-broader “working class”), is that they do not know or understand exactly what it is that they are trying to “fix”. With the exception of the President, none of them have ever wanted for food, clothing, or medical care, (and even he, Thank God, had grandparents of substance who were able to be of assistance.) Continue reading →

How it began

Posted on by
Reply

History of the Internet is really cool animated documentary by Melih Bilgil showing how the Internet has evolved from its ARPANET origins. The video is illustrated using PICOL icons, an project that helps provide free and open icons to help facilitate a common pictorial language for electronic communication.

History of the Internet from PICOL on Vimeo

Via LaughingSquid, Boing Boing and Nowhere Else

The Necessary Remedy

Posted on by
Reply

by Mary Pitt

With an economy that is sadly in the tank, a stock market that cannot get its feet back under it, with record and growing unemployment, and with working class and poor people suffering with too little income and too many expenses, the economists and politicians are quarreling over what will be required to heal the ills of our nation. Continue reading →

Little Thompson Observatory News – 1/16/09

Posted on by
Reply

Little Thompson ObservatoryFriday 16 January 2009  7:00 – 11:00 PM

Public Star Night at the Little Thompson Observatory

850 Spartan Ave at Berthoud High School

(park east of the high school; directions are posted on our website, www.starkids.org)

Our guest speaker for Friday January 16, 2009 is Bryan White, known from past years for his great 3-D comet slide show as well as an out of this world Aurora Borealis show. Bryan White will be showing slides that are “old” pictures of Hyakutake, Hale-Bopp, and the occultation of Saturn by the Moon and of course, select Aurora pictures from 2002, 2004, and 2006.  He thought it would be interesting for people to see that there is still outstanding Aurora in Yellowknife during the solar minimum.  The total show will take just over 1 hour.  Bryan also has a surprise in store for us. But he promises it will be spectacular.

Little Thompson Observatory Aurora 1Bryan has visited Yellowknife in the Northern Territories several times over the last few years and has taken some incredible pictures of this natural phenomenon. If you still remember his great 3-D comets slide shows he gave the past couple of years at LTO, than you know this one will be very exciting.

Little Thompson Observatory Aurora 2Bryan has been interested in Astronomy since 1957 when he had just moved to a farm in rural Michigan. One summer evening he went outside shortly after sunset and observed a bright naked eye comet just over the tree line. It was Comet Mrkos that had just been discovered. That stimulated his interest in Astronomy and he has been studying it ever since. Bryan began taking astro-photos in 1985 when Halley’s made its visit. He noticed, that his favorite photos were where the Comet included trees, mountains, etc. that gave the comet a sense of scale plus made the image more interesting. Then in 1996 during the Winter Star Party, he was planning a trip for Hale-Bopp when it was announced that Hyakutake was discovered. While relaxing on the beach he remembered his grandfather’s old stereoscope. Bryan mused, why couldn’t he take 3-D pictures of the upcoming Comets? He went out and bought another camera and a bar that held the two some distance apart and started taking 3-D images of Hyakutake. By the time Hale-Bopp came he had the technique down. From that experience, which left him with over 1200 Hale-Bopp comet slides, he has developed a great interest in the Aurora Borealis.  Please see his website for more information http://www.astro-photo.com

Due to the large interest in this show in past years, we will use the Berthoud High School Auditorium for Bryan’s presentation. Please use the East door to get to the Auditorium. Volunteers will be on hand to help you with directions. The doors will open at 7:00pm and the show will start at 7:30pm.  The Observatory will be open after his slide show, probably around 8:30pm

Weather permitting after the presentation, visitors will be invited to look through the large telescope at various celestial objects.

Public star nights are held the third Friday of each month (except July, when we are closed for annual maintenance).

If you have any questions, please call the observatory information line at 970-613-7793 or check the LTO web site at: www.starkids.org

Sincerely,

Meinte Veldhuis
President, Little Thompson Science Foundation

iPod Juice

Posted on by
Reply

Just got a replacement battery for my iPod Mini (kindly given to me by my pal DJ Cline some time ago) from iPod Juice. The installation is fairly simple – provided you follow the (lovely, full-color glossy) instructions to the letter.

Even being careful I managed to narf one of the little ‘teeth‘ they warn you about. ‘Slow‘ and ‘firm‘ are your watchwords. Don’t hurry and do not use ‘gorilla-strength’ at any point. One false move and you have an expensive paperweight, albeit with a brand-spankin new battery.

Read the instructions all the way through and study the (excellent) photos carefully – they’re very helpful.

$36 (roughly) was all it cost to restore my vintage iPod Mini to proper multi-hour ear-shattering condition.

Thank you Mr. Cline. (and Mr. Echternacht for the assist).

Pirate lies

Posted on by
Reply

From the Huffington Post

You Are Being Lied to About Pirates

Johann Hari
Columnist, London Independent

Who imagined that in 2009, the world’s governments would be declaring a new War on Pirates? As you read this, the British Royal Navy – backed by the ships of more than two dozen nations, from the US to China – is sailing into Somalian waters to take on men we still picture as parrot-on-the-shoulder pantomime villains. They will soon be fighting Somalian ships and even chasing the pirates onto land, into one of the most broken countries on earth. But behind the arrr-me-hearties oddness of this tale, there is an untold scandal. The people our governments are labeling as “one of the great menace of our times” have an extraordinary story to tell — and some justice on their side. Continue reading →

Makers

Posted on by
Reply

Make: Television Launches, Weekly Episodes Profiling Makers
from: Laughing Squid 1/3/09 1:15 PM Scott Beale Television Video

MAKE magazine, Twin Cities Public Television and American Public Television have just launched the wonderful new weekly series Make: Television featuring half hour HD episodes profiling “Makers”. Make: Television can be viewed on public television (broadcast and cable), online (YouTube & Vimeo) or downloaded DRM-free.

Make: is the DIY series for a new generation! It celebrates “Makers” – the inventors, artists, geeks and just plain everyday folks who mix new and old technology to create new-fangled marvels. The series encourages everyone to invent, revent, recycle, upcycle, and act up. Based on the popular Make magazine, each half-hour episode inspires millions to think, create, and, well, make.

A segment from the debut episode of Make: Television features Cyclecide Bike Rodeo.

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & FriendFeed.