tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26637796059373034242011-07-28T15:01:11.870-06:00A blog about space science, life at PO Box 1663, and other randomness.spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.comBlogger1761100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-59735275668982792432011-05-16T08:41:00.003-06:002011-05-16T08:48:59.043-06:00

Okay, I'll admit it. Post-A-Day-May is an abject failure. Egads.That said, back to regular posting.Being from south east Michigan and doing a lot of traveling for work, I've come to love Detroit's airport (DTW.) Compared to most others, it is beautiful, easy to navigate, clean and just damn impressive. Today, I have found that I am not alone in this assessment:In #Detroit airport and never

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-21115139306086614922011-05-06T11:42:00.003-06:002011-05-06T12:30:15.894-06:00

XKCD does an excellent job illustrating a huge problem one encounters when trying to explain theoretical work: simplifying how the world works for explanation to the lay person through the use of analogy often robs the listener of true depth and complexity of the situation. True understanding of the world takes years of dedicated study; there are no short cuts.Expanded upon in great detail by

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-25209826059311274062011-05-03T21:20:00.007-06:002011-05-03T21:38:46.259-06:00

Strike one on post-a-day. In any case, let's wrap up the draft.Here's the final verdict (large here):First thing's first: anyone know a better way to do pictures in Blogger other than the built-in Picasa interface? It seriously sucks. I can't link to a simple hi-res version, the embedding options suck, and it's a plain old pain-in-the-ass. Yeesh.Anyway, the Lions got some good value, as I

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-89240778587403544642011-05-01T10:29:00.003-06:002011-05-01T10:31:11.098-06:00

For the entire month of May, I will post at least once a day. Why? To try to get this blog off the ground. It will be bigger than the pet rock!To ring in this fine May morning, I present you with a picture of the lovely Los Alamos weather:WTF?

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-73496138196222010012011-04-29T21:49:00.005-06:002011-04-29T22:20:13.685-06:00

The Consensus Draft Ranker has been re-tooled to give us a quick-look way to assess a single team's draft. How did the Lions look?Both Nick Fairley and Mikel LeShoure (1st and 2nd round picks, respectively) were good values- they were picked later in the draft then their consensus top 100 ranking. Titus Young, however, was a 13 spot reach. Overall, the Lions nabbed good value with their picks.

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-54656815951053838582011-04-29T17:34:00.005-06:002011-04-29T18:14:47.031-06:00

Two years ago, I created my first consensus draft ranking system. This year, it's back in a completely new form! It's been completely re-written from the ground up, and is graphical!To summarize: many different top-100 player boards are averaged to create a consensus top-100. Then, each actual draft pick is ranked by subtracting the position of the pick from the consensus ranking of the player

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-66522653342550951032011-04-15T17:23:00.002-06:002011-04-15T17:27:24.022-06:00

This is amazing. Apparently, in 1957, Jim Henson made a series of short adverts for Wilkins' Instant Coffee. Some one dug up the footage of Beta-Kermit making sure you drink Wilkins'... OR ELSE!Watch for...Beta Kermit shooting another muppet.Beta Kermit watching another muppet drown.Beta Kermit shanking another muppet.Oh, how I long for the days when muppet violence was considered the norm. It

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-51027716899909579232011-04-14T09:55:00.002-06:002011-04-14T12:21:42.708-06:00

FINALLY continuing the climate change email saga. Here is my response to "Carl", the ignorant but sure climate change denier.Hey, [Carl]. Thanks for the reply.I think the issues you bring up -- is CO2 the greatest factor in climate change, what other factors are there, etc. -- are good questions and are issues actually being tackled in the climate community. One only needs to follow some of

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-41553692194331852242011-04-08T10:48:00.002-06:002011-04-08T11:07:49.777-06:00

I'm on the way back from a quick trip to Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, Texas. They have an excellent instrumentation and data analysis team, so it was good to talk to them. Being a numerical modeler, it's easy to lose touch with current missions. This is my third time traveling since the full-body scanners were put in place but the first time that I was instructed to

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-21300504870499811092011-04-04T12:39:00.001-06:002011-04-04T19:22:00.275-06:00

Last Friday, I did something that I haven't done in quite some time: got involved politically. I spoke briefly, as did many Los Alamos residents, at a regional transit authority meeting. Los Alamos has an excellent, free, bus system to take you all over town. It has allowed my family to live single-vehicle for most of our 2+ years here. The way in which funds are divided up among regional

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-82598077814562921852011-04-03T11:03:00.004-06:002011-04-03T11:25:57.399-06:00

Where have I been? Obviously some place that allows me to neglect this blog!Actually, it's just been a very, VERY hectic time. -I am learning why a linear extrapolation is not appropriate for quantifying the difficulty of having two kids versus just one. -I am trying to wrap up three research projects while starting a new one and continuing two others. -I am in the midst of a travel

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-28370960460800776872011-02-14T10:10:00.002-07:002011-02-14T10:20:10.875-07:00

l bought TMBG's "Here Comes Science!" album for my (at the time) 2-year old daughter only to find that there are a number of songs that should be required listening for adults. Case in point: a song that reminds us that we do not need to rely on intuition, gut reaction, or that most loathsome phrase, "common sense", in order to evaluate things. Science gives us a framework to test ideas in a

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-75474385329733232942011-02-13T15:27:00.002-07:002011-02-13T15:43:22.249-07:00

Whoa, where did Friday go? Oh yeah, it went snowboarding. That's why there was no on-time WTF post (which is too bad, because I have a good one!)I received this from my grad school advisor; he found it by googling "magnetosphere images". ORBS! What are these energy orbs? Well, a less informed person would say, "looks like you need to clean the lens and hold the camera still when you're

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-66508925230732613302011-02-13T15:10:00.006-07:002011-02-13T15:22:58.129-07:00

When I receive an email like the one I shared in my previous post, I can't help but reply to it in some capacity. The difficulty with this particular message is that I don't know what the person who shared the doomsday story (from here on out, I'll refer to him as "Carl") is looking for -- is he just whipping up trouble on LANL's climate mailing list, or does he want a serious answer? After

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-71357485903079122412011-02-09T10:03:00.002-07:002011-02-09T17:16:28.706-07:00

Working at a renowned science laboratory, one would hope that there would be a heightened understanding and respect for the scientific process and the great insights gleaned from those who toil in scientific inquiry on a daily basis.Oh, how naive I am.The following email was sent to the climate mailing list within the Lab - note that all personal and otherwise sensitive information has been

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-37562265342969410182011-02-08T15:12:00.003-07:002011-02-09T10:03:03.235-07:00

Anyone who knew Detroit when Robocop first hit the silver screen understood how the movie hit a little too close to home for Michiganders. For years, I've referred to the flick as frighteningly prophetic, and was only half-joking. As a satire that glances oh-so-close to the truth, they nailed it -- right down to the 6000 SUX commercial.Apparently, some people have grown either too sentimental

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-71155175377295371332011-02-02T12:13:00.006-07:002011-02-02T12:43:53.035-07:00

Some time ago, I volunteered to be part of the SamKnows project- an FCC sponsored study of actual versus advertised broadband speeds. I did this for several reasons. First, studies such as this are essential if we are to address the poor state of broadband availability, speed, and cost in the United States. Secondly, it is a powerful tool for the consumer to have a constant quality monitor of

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-49149722396270622572011-01-31T16:02:00.005-07:002011-01-31T16:57:33.473-07:00

In my previous post, I tried to make the case that the availability of lower-quality, less healthy food made it easier for me to pork out while in MI. And seriously, who can resist the siren call of Timbits?The Consumerist, one of my favorite websites, provides hard evidence to my anecdotes: cheaper, crappier food from Walmart makes it easier for people to be fatties. Who would've guessed?

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-73462462951418870472011-01-27T09:04:00.003-07:002011-01-31T10:08:56.969-07:00

One part of living in Los Alamos is getting used to the altitude- approximately 7500 feet above sea level (suck it, Denver.) Santa Fe, the nearest well-known and well-populated city, is at a similar elevation. This is a huge change for someone who was raised in the midwest near sea level -- at least for the first few weeks or so.Another aspect is isolation. The community is close-knit because

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-43078327767728905072011-01-21T16:08:00.003-07:002011-01-21T16:14:52.047-07:00

I know that this has made the rounds on the intarwebs before, but I must bring it up again because...because...I HAVE SEEN IT WITH MY OWN EYES.Okay, not the real thing, but a reprint. A family member gave it to another family member of political standing so that it could be proudly displayed in a government office. The receiving party correctly said that the church-state separation issues

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-42108576382292458432010-09-06T10:00:00.002-06:002010-09-06T10:47:53.687-06:00

Happy Labor Day. Here's hoping my wife goes into labor. Yeesh.One thing I've come to enjoy immensely over the past few years is podcasts. I often ride a bus or walk to work, giving me plenty of time to enjoy several different subscriptions. One that I thought I would never subscribe to, or for that matter enjoy so thoroughly, is a financial podcast- NPR's Planet Money.To be fair, Planet Money

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-58994736123084207812010-09-05T12:20:00.003-06:002010-09-05T13:01:01.192-06:00

It has been difficult to dodge politics recently, as the coming election compels candidates to throw their pamphlets in your face at every corner. One particular candidate in New Mexico has recently caught my attention, Republican Tom Mullins. He has achieved this by handing out pocket constitutions along with his various informational fliers (which proudly point out that he is a Christian who

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-15052459346293362522010-08-20T09:45:00.001-06:002010-08-30T08:37:07.727-06:00

This is true:It's even better, however, when your code takes days to run. No matter how little you're doing, as long as your code is running, you feel like you're doing something.

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-25093262497233792452010-08-20T08:09:00.002-06:002010-08-20T08:12:05.762-06:00

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our next "Snakes on a Plane":Yes, the fish actually made a whirlpool to suck victims into their waiting jaws. I'd be stupid to miss this blockbuster!!!

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-82681510470017672302010-08-11T13:32:00.006-06:002010-08-12T09:01:14.802-06:00

A piece of ice has broken free from a Greenlandic glacier and is floating free around the arctic ocean. When I say "piece", I mean a glacier that covers 3 times more surface area than the island of Manhattan. It is so large that its momentum makes the possibility of slowing it down... well, impossible.The NPR article above places this event in the context of global warming- something that is

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-33177301022644131612010-08-09T17:14:00.003-06:002010-08-09T17:20:30.695-06:00

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (WARNING- NOT SAFE FOR WORK) has quickly rose from what I would consider a "meh" comic to a regular laugh-fest. If you are a fan of dark humor and nerd jokes, I insist that you add it to your repertoire. Be sure to check out the SMBC Theater. It's hysterical. Exhibit A:I rest my case.

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-65311326761265411932010-08-09T17:12:00.001-06:002010-08-09T17:14:08.549-06:00

While cleaning my overly-gross keyboard, I realized the patterns in the gunk buildup tell me which keys I press most often.Or which of my fingers are the dirtiest.Or both.Ew.

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-75781385642626937822010-08-05T09:47:00.003-06:002010-08-05T10:29:24.993-06:00

I praised Google back when they stood up to China (though they eventually stepped back), so it's only fair to criticize them here. Google is working with Verizon ISP to deliver content from sites such as YouTube to Verizon internet subscribers faster than other content (commentary here).This is bad. First, it sets the precedent that ISPs can select which information gets to you the fastest, and

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-70583243196840074252010-08-04T08:49:00.003-06:002010-08-04T09:10:53.342-06:00

zzzzzzz....*snort* hrmph! wha? Whozzere? Oh, sorry. I was sleeping for a bit. Sorry about that. It happens from time to time. Usually during a busy/stressful period I tend to let such things as blogs fall into neglect, then drag my feet when it comes to getting them running again.In any case, what better time to get started than during a rather well publicized space weather storm (though I

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-27976661837863529462010-04-23T08:06:00.002-06:002010-04-23T08:24:37.034-06:00

The first round started as expected but was full of some interesting surprises. Let's take a look.According to the Consensus Big Board, my average of as many top-100 player boards as I can find, Green Bay had the biggest value pick, grabbing Bryan Bulaga at 23 for a 13.2 spot value. There was a lot of reaching going on in the first round, most notably by Jacksonville (reaching 47.2 spots Tyson

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-31460070858166186532010-04-21T14:57:00.004-06:002010-04-21T15:05:50.755-06:00

As I did last year, I will be again producing a "Consensus Draft Ranking". This is where I produce a consensus top 100 player board by averaging as many top 100 boards as I can get my hands on, then use this list to rate how much of a reach or value each pick was (throughout the first 100, of course.) This year, with my software already in place, I will be Tweeting the results live as they roll

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-56507863165562732612010-04-05T08:54:00.004-06:002010-04-05T09:39:48.831-06:00

We've finally had a solar storm! Ooooooh! Data! Plots! Explanations!It started yesterday and continued today, as seen in the Space Weather Prediction Center's real-time Kp index. Kp is a single number that characterizes magnetospheric activity through ground based measurements of the Earth's magnetic field. It ranges from 0 to 9, 0 being nothing; 9 being doomsday. 4 or 5 is what I would

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-92075095096470742322010-04-01T09:09:00.002-06:002010-04-01T09:36:30.857-06:00

Welcome to a new feature of this blog:BEST INTERNET THURSDAY!Mondays are typically reserved for examples of good internets; Thursdays are now roped off for the best the internet has to offer. Today's example: Conservapedia!Has there ever been such an accurate aggregation of knowledge put forth by man? Me thinks not. And if you don't believe me, listen to this: Conservapedia has banned more IP

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-14784897625700425602010-03-11T08:45:00.004-07:002010-03-11T14:18:51.892-07:00

When developing numerical computer models with which to do science, an easy trap to fall into is creating an experimental environment that makes it very difficult to reproduce results from an earlier time. This problem is articulated very well by the people over at ArsTechnica, but given my every day experience with this challenge, I thought I would share my perspective here. Depending on the

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-41084616093422623772010-03-08T16:15:00.000-07:002010-03-08T16:15:45.301-07:00

HIS NAME IS VALVLE. OH HELL YES.Valve Confirms Games, Steam for Macs in AprilWith the announcement of Portal 2, I was starting to feel a bit weepy about permanently ditching Windows several years ago. I loved HL2 and Portal, and spent more time than I care to admit playing CS:S. This announcement means that I won't have to kludge together a Linux solution if I ever feel the gamin' itch again.

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-68048416054244898042010-03-08T08:25:00.003-07:002010-03-08T09:01:35.355-07:00

The commercials annoyed me, it's true. And I admit that at one point I declared that I would never buy another phone unless it was an iPhone. But I began eating those sentiments double-plus quick when I saw it in action. And, it's on Verizon, to whom I am very loyal thanks to their customer service that has bent over backwards for me on several occasions.So now, I am the proud owner of a

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-37875076694786933962010-02-05T08:19:00.001-07:002010-02-05T08:28:03.652-07:00

Lay Egg is True!

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-3247321276620246592010-01-28T08:23:00.003-07:002010-01-28T08:26:43.132-07:00

Great animation of the recession as unemployment rate by county over the entire nation can be found here: http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.htmlIt seems to me that more and more of these types of demonstrations are beginning to surface. Has anyone else noticed that the U.S. is starting to feel more like a case study and less like a nation?

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-70488579077122688442010-01-26T08:47:00.003-07:002010-01-26T09:32:48.137-07:00

Waiting for me in my inbox this morning:There's a good amount of truth to this satire (despite the rather tired "HITLER REACTS TO :blank: LOLZ" genre). The peer review process can be an absolute gauntlet- reasonably and unreasonably so. There are cases where a reviewer asks for ridiculous changes or additional work. Conversely, there are times when such requests are completely justified. On

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-8939651418243271372010-01-20T10:00:00.003-07:002010-01-20T10:24:06.965-07:00

Computers, but apparently not for long:"The trend for low-priced computers will last for the coming years," said Shih, according to the AFP's quote of a Commercial Times newspaper interview. "But U.S. computer makers just don't know how to put such products on the market... US computer brands may disappear over the next 20 years, just like what happened to U.S. television brands."Excuse the

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-56906861793522494742010-01-20T09:09:00.004-07:002010-01-20T09:16:36.617-07:00

I haven't been on a good hike for a long while. I finally broke my dry spell this past weekend with the help of brand-spankin' new snow shoes! I took them up the local ski hill twice already; it was a fantastic hike. Click on the way points for pictures, pop the map open in a new window for a better view:View Snow Shoeing on Pajarito - January 18th, 2010 in a larger mapI'm going to try to go

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-14396500472865156202010-01-19T09:08:00.001-07:002010-01-19T09:09:54.569-07:00

Check out these tasty and peer-reviewed recipes over at Not So Humble Pie.

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-88513489146663721072010-01-19T08:30:00.001-07:002010-01-19T08:31:59.183-07:00

I found this over at Tom's Hardware: First Person Tetris. It's a bit... disorientating.

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-16521165614784893472010-01-13T07:58:00.003-07:002010-01-13T08:08:20.197-07:00

Yeah, it's Wednesday. I know that. This one's a good one, though:GOOGLE. KICKS.ASS.In a nutshell: There was a recent attempt to hack gmail accounts of prominent human rights activists in China coming from China. Based on Google's investigations, the attack was most likely by the Chinese government. In retaliation, Google will no longer be filtering searches on google.cn, and may pull out of

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-80808330249920815392010-01-08T08:24:00.003-07:002010-01-08T09:21:19.642-07:00

Here's a post-Christmas WTF link: Stand for Christmas. It's a collection of people who are butthurt by stores not using enough Christmas decorations, using non-Christmas decorations, saying "happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", do not have a manger scene on display, etc. ad nauseum. They call out the worst perpetrators of such heinous actions, rank the stores, and vow to boycott the

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-77813484981780977812010-01-05T08:54:00.002-07:002010-01-05T12:44:10.213-07:00

National Geographic listed their top ten space discoveries of 2009. Number 7 goes to the Mars Phoenix lander, which discovered liquid water upon landing. Co-Investigator Nilton Renno is a University of Michigan AOSS-department scientist, and his (ex-)graduate student, Manish Mehta, performed the experiments that demonstrated that the lander would likely uncover ice by blowing away dust during

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-36187552083990376212010-01-05T08:36:00.004-07:002010-01-05T08:54:36.855-07:00

My family traveled back to Michigan for the holidays, but it was not an easy trip. We were on 5 different flights, and something went wrong on every single one.Our first leg from Albuquerque to Minneapolis took off on time and even landed- in Albuquerque. Mechanical problems killed the flight, and we were re-booked to go through Atlanta and then to Detroit the next morning. Give Delta credit:

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-68073022979707905382010-01-04T10:51:00.004-07:002010-01-04T11:04:58.667-07:00

Christmas Vacation != Actual Vacation. Details forthcoming.Anyway, here's a link that's been sitting in a Firefox tab for some time. I either stole it from Pharyngula or Bad Astronomy; I can't remember which (those are good blogs that you should be reading if you're not already.) It's the solar system correctly scaled. Be prepared to do some hardcore scrolling to find the

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-46330764204566468042009-12-13T11:56:00.003-07:002009-12-13T12:06:16.845-07:00

Yeah, things are not going well.Again, I was going to leave my house at 5:00 AM. At 3:00 AM, I get a call from Delta (well, a recording, anyway) letting me know my flight was canceled. I go back to bed, because I don't think thoughts at 3 in the morning.At 5 I wake up, get ready, and call Delta. The lady over the phone (Delta's customer service was waaaayyy better than Hertz's) informs me that

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-2169979633192888722009-12-13T11:39:00.003-07:002009-12-13T11:56:15.626-07:00

I'm trying as hard as I can to get to the big Fall American Geophysical Union meeting, but it hasn't gone my way so far.Let's start with the rental car to get from Los Alamos to Albuquerque. My flight out of ABQ was supposed to be at 8:30, which means a 5:00 AM departure from Los Alamos. A rental car is key because there's no way I'm waking up my family to drive me two hours just so they can

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-14565568035227430222009-12-07T08:52:00.003-07:002009-12-07T09:28:38.750-07:00

I apologize for doing nothing but linking to YouTube videos, but I've found another great one while hanging around Pharyngula:Besides being frustratingly hilarious, this video perfectly encapsulates the debate between climatologists and self-proclaimed skeptics*. Side A tries to describe the situation rationally and emphasizes the important topic: is the Earth actually warming because of human

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-87811579014801146602009-12-03T09:18:00.003-07:002009-12-03T11:04:48.258-07:00

There's a neat review over at Newsweek on the book "Science as a Contact Sport". It is written by Stephen Schneider, the author of a famous 1960's paper that predicted global cooling. His results came from a climate predicting computer model that had an import omission in the physics simulated by the code. This omission halved the effect of CO2 in the atmosphere. This paper has been trumpeted

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-48424947471565472002009-12-03T08:44:00.002-07:002009-12-03T09:17:57.169-07:00

So, a few weeks ago, I put the blog on hiatus until "I get this damn code working." Well, since then, all of my codes have gone belly up. As such, I shall resume the blogging. I seem to have a better research success rate when I'm blogging, so we'll put that to the test.And, as we ALL know, it's always a good idea to put it to the test!

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-40213805441461203102009-11-23T21:23:00.001-07:002009-11-23T21:24:56.299-07:00

Blerg. Fighting off the remnants of a cold; fighting with my code to get some results.What I need right now is more videos like this:

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-90080263251152327372009-11-13T08:25:00.003-07:002009-11-13T08:49:59.456-07:00

I finally got things straightened out with my laptop last night, which means I can finally post about how hard Python rocks.I'll start with my first Python-generated figure that will be going into a paper I've written:I'll explain what is going on here eventually; for now I'll just say that creating this image was surprisingly easy.Next, I'll share a sneak peak into a project I've just started:

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-36490683085661474752009-11-13T08:11:00.003-07:002009-11-13T08:21:17.137-07:00

So after I let our good friend Pat know exactly what I thought of his reply, he was quick to send me another email. This is a pattern- I spend some time putting together a thought-out email only to have Pat respond within an hour. Of all the ones I've received so far, this one is the worst. It's almost as if he thought to himself, "Gee... what's the most ridiculous way I can support my beliefs

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-56328097399248391072009-11-12T10:13:00.003-07:002009-11-12T10:19:34.185-07:00

This should have been a glorious post about Python, but alas, it is not to be.Fink, the package manager for Mac OS X, went haywire last night. The dependencies got screwed up and I could not update anything. I needed some Python updates and couldn't get at them. After hours of screwing around, I decided to wipe my Fink install and start over.But I couldn't. My disk permissions are screwed up

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-55447700286962097262009-11-10T08:10:00.003-07:002009-11-10T08:13:43.511-07:00

Well, actually number 9, but the second frame in a slide show.Tom's Hardware (they're hiring, by the way...) has a list of the top 10 threats to the internet; solar storms come in at number 9. It's nice to be acknowledged.

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-38080532383587525862009-11-07T13:38:00.004-07:002009-11-07T13:43:37.418-07:00

It is only fair that after posting Pat's words verbatim, I should do the same for myself. My proudest moment? Certainly not. I am quite sick of these type of people, so I let loose...My dearest Pat,You end your last email discussing the notion of truth. Perhaps the biggest difference between you and I is that I spend most of my time searching for the truth while you spend most of your breath

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-43706609976204496122009-11-06T11:16:00.003-07:002009-11-06T11:21:07.176-07:00

Brace yourself. To end RAGE WEEK, I'm pulling out the worst of WTF. It's Glenn Beck's video contest to promote his new book, "Arguing with Idiots". I spent just a few minutes there. The dumbassometer went through the roof. The Ironymeter broke. The RAGE was pure and strong.Are you ready? Here it is:WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE!?!

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-51610192986486723892009-11-05T16:09:00.000-07:002009-11-05T16:10:14.656-07:00

A bit more RAGE before this week ends:A few weeks ago, the in-laws were in town. It was good to see family and was good for The Wife and my daughter to see their extended family, too.During a discussion with my father-in-law, it came up that I have very few natural born citizen friends that I have met at the Lab. An off-the-cuff analysis:I have to take three steps up the chain-of-command

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-60136619407901215282009-11-05T15:55:00.004-07:002009-11-05T16:03:26.768-07:00

RAGE week continues!As I said earlier, "Pat" was quick to respond to my request that he not send me his unlettered, poorly informed garbage:Dan ,Sorry to hear that as you gaze into the stars that your head is in the sand!!!I have not had the opportunity to know you personally but know that your mother is very proud of you and your personal and educational accomplishments, as well she should .I

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-82219208312779236712009-11-03T20:09:00.003-07:002009-11-03T20:27:24.889-07:00

The health care debate is a sensitive, complicated subject. Obama's controversial plan has both benefits and issues; determining the outcome of such a plan is difficult but enacting reform critical.That is why I absolutely loathe people who are opposed tooth and nail to ANY sort of change due to misguided, poorly reasoned motivations. Case in point: this email sent to me by my ex-auto insurance

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-79361358195673932612009-11-01T20:26:00.004-07:002009-11-01T20:45:23.694-07:00

RAGE WEEK begins with a random text message from a phone number I didn't recognize. I'm not sure I can describe the ensuing exchange properly, so I will post it here verbatim:Random Person: FWD: FWD: A man you love is gonna show you how much he NEEDS you on monday but you have to send this to 9 girls.No joke. (punctuation and spacing hers.)Me: If you ever send a message like this to me again, I

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-83718450413647071592009-11-01T20:19:00.003-07:002009-11-01T20:25:56.712-07:00

IDECLARERAGE WEEK!!!!I've had enough things piss me off that I shall rant until I feel better. I invite readers to rage along with me in the comments. Once the raging has finished, I shall return to my regularly scheduled blogging.

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-9704062164441565602009-10-20T19:10:00.003-06:002009-10-20T19:27:17.962-06:00

The In-Laws are in town, and while I was hard at work they went to Santa Fe with my better half (from here on in known as The Wife.) Upon arriving at the Plaza, they found that a movie was being shot. The title: Due Date! starring Robert Downey Jr....Be honest, now- how many of you laughed at that as hard as I did?In any case, The Wife was exceptionally excited to see that her favorite coffee

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-5006493743213777292009-10-19T08:18:00.002-06:002009-10-19T08:22:37.417-06:00

That's right, the entire country of Finland is today's GIM.Why? Because starting next July, broadband internet is no longer a privilege but a right. Every citizen will have broadband access. By 2015, the speeds will be up to 100Mb. If there's one way to improve the general education level of a populace, it's to provide them access to the world's largest database. This is a fantastic step for

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-46057042229792604332009-10-18T11:36:00.003-06:002009-10-18T12:08:31.490-06:00

Well, kinda...While listening to the Detroit Lions get destroyed by Green Bay and simultaneously watching the Giants get beat up on by the Saints on TV, I saw a commercial for the Air Force. The situation on this commercial is as follows: on a space station orbiting Earth, the crew has witnessed a piece of space junk ricochet off another piece and hurl straight towards *gasp* the space station

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-7441416491275981232009-10-18T11:04:00.000-06:002009-10-18T11:36:01.188-06:00

Whoops- meant to post this yesterday.On the surface, Plugged In Online appears to be a great parental resource. It reviews games, movies, music albums, etc. with a focus on how appropriate the various material is for younger audiences. "Great!" you may be thinking. "I can read up on the (movie/album/game) that my brat was wanting to (watch/buy/play) and get an idea if it's appropriate,

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-63172028415381410762009-10-12T18:46:00.002-06:002009-10-12T19:14:38.003-06:00

I'm stealing this from Bad Astronomy. National Geographic has posted a map of extra terrestrial space missions. Very cool stuff.Some notes from yours truly:The drop off in number of missions between Mars and Jupiter and beyond speaks to the immense distance you must go to reach the gas giants. Distance is such a huge barrier in space exploration.Only nine missions to the Sun? Disappointing

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-68138904403548189862009-10-10T12:02:00.005-06:002009-10-10T12:39:05.202-06:00

The Detroit Lions have activated Zack Follett to provide a spark to their special teams play. Zack was a seventh round pick this year out of Cal. He was a decorated linebacker because he played like a madman on a killing spree:I may be a bit excited to see this kid play.DISREGARD THAT BLOGGER WON'T LET ME POST ANIMATED GIFS.Go Lions.

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-47752442259969045082009-10-08T21:10:00.003-06:002009-10-08T21:54:44.169-06:00

I don't watch much TV. Mostly sports and cartoons. My wife pulled me, kicking and screaming, into watching the Office three years ago, and it has been my favorite sitcom (the only one I really watch) since.But it's over.Tonight's wedding episode was funny and cute, but the last scene was the biggest jump-the-shark moment I've ever witnessed. The "whole cast dances down the isle HURRRRR" ending

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-3770077154490816152009-10-05T19:45:00.003-06:002009-10-05T20:16:33.355-06:00

For those of you wondering, the goal of GIM is to highlight areas of the web that are havens of free speech and knowledge as well as fertile grounds for new ideas.Sometimes, though, it's just about blowing shit up real good-like:Note: be sure to check out the high-res version on their youtube channel!I love IIAGITMT. It's a great example of a few guys taking a silly idea as far as they can.

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-35215198603824575872009-10-03T21:26:00.002-06:002009-10-03T21:30:31.740-06:00

I went up to Pajarito Mountain ski area today with my family to check out the fall colors on the mountain. Check out the map for pics!View Pajarito Mountain Hike - October 3, 2009 in a larger map

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-84729071566535895912009-10-03T21:08:00.000-06:002009-10-03T22:08:01.784-06:00

Found this half-finished post sitting around. Can't believe I didn't complete it month(s?) ago.AronRa (a favorite youtuber of mine) was trading responses with a particularly tenacious creationist when he ran into the same wall that I (and just about everyone) have experienced before: it doesn't matter how you say it or how many times you say it, they just don't hear what you have to say.This

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-27024142221960674052009-09-27T21:31:00.003-06:002009-09-27T21:59:12.926-06:00

I'm in Boulder, Colorado for a workshop on the effects of plasma outflow from the ionosphere on the entire magnetosphere. For the first time, I drove to a scientific meeting/conference and also brought my family. A few notes before the workshop starts:THE LIONS FINALLY WON. First time in my daughter's lifetime; first time since 2007. Because we were deep in the mountains of Colorado during

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-44472472773043243362009-09-23T07:59:00.001-06:002009-09-23T08:03:44.137-06:00

Wow! Looking at the sun today, you can see two scoops groups of raisins sunspots!Check out the SOHO MDI image:Space weather, here we come!

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-20450140435499359152009-09-22T16:14:00.006-06:002009-09-22T16:32:48.224-06:00

I've had a strange past few weeks, but last night hit a 21 out of 10 on the strange-o-meter. Rather than try to explain what happened in detail, I'll just post the picture and use the same caption that I typed into Facebook while extremely drowsy:"I went to take out the garbage, and this cat was hanging by his balls. Looking at the picture, I'm not sure if he was hanging by his waist or his

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-55887671768631511262009-09-18T20:51:00.004-06:002009-09-18T22:18:20.465-06:00

This one isn't fair.This guy is really close to landing on Good Internet Monday. Realllly close. He's very knowledgeable, posts incredibly interesting videos, has regular Q&A sessions for interested viewers, all the things that characterize what a good youtube channel SHOULD be......but his area of expertise is snakes.SNAKES.Youtube user Viper Keeper, true to his moniker, keeps dozens of rare,

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-68798428634847115182009-09-14T20:34:00.003-06:002009-09-14T21:02:02.190-06:00

Oh, football... OOOOoooooooh, football.The first week, wrapping up as I type, was great. Unless you're the Lions. Oh, Lions... *muffled sobbing*After showing that they just might not be any better than last year, I needed to step away from the ledge. I handed my wife my belt and shoelaces and went to go weep by myself in the bathroom. It was that bad.It's times like this where I need a calm,

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-58032584881289761742009-09-12T22:16:00.003-06:002009-09-12T22:36:51.781-06:00

After not posting for a week, here's a quick sob story to explain my absence:I started the week (Labor Day) doing what any red-or-blue-blooded scientist should be doing on such a day: LABORING! I had science to do, dammit. It was a fairly productive (yet stressful) day as I tried to wrap up and plot results that I owed my superiors on the eve of their return from a long European trip. I also

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-19424834632623340152009-09-05T08:49:00.004-06:002009-09-05T21:04:55.014-06:00

The new laptop came in, which means that I need a name posthaste. On Tuesday, I'll take it to the IT crowd to have Lab-approved software (read: out of date) installed and at that point I'll need a wacky moniker. After balancing comedic value with the likelihood that the name will be approved by lab brass, I've whittled it down to two choices:OMJihad - This is only somewhat likely to cause

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-91602615478902653242009-09-03T21:23:00.003-06:002009-09-03T21:29:02.865-06:00

I've now posted on here 100 times. Hooray!But on to Whiskey Tango Friday: People of Walmart.Don't go there at work.Don't go there at home.Don't go there if you value your faith in humanity.And definitely, definitely don't follow any youtube links that you see on the back of someone's jean jacket. Look, it's a site that just has pictures of people at Walmart, okay? Now you don't have to go there

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-84098271267241766202009-09-03T08:13:00.002-06:002009-09-03T08:22:45.790-06:00

Praise be FSM for this brand spankin' new TMBG album: Here Comes Science! I know what my daughter is getting for her birthday (or, rather, the next excuse I have to buy something.)If you look at the comments on the video for the song "Science is Real", you'll find several people butthurt over the lyric "I like the stories as much as anyone else, but when I'm seeking knowledge [...] the facts are

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-83390492648837319602009-09-02T08:37:00.005-06:002009-09-02T09:08:53.392-06:00

Did anyone happen to catch NBC's Dateline episode named A Dose of Controversy, an expose' on the anti-vax movement? It was pretty good overall. A quick summary:The man who initially linked autism to the MMR vaccine, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, did so with a study that used 12 participants.More recent studies that have used 500,000 to several MILLION participants have found no such link.Nearly all of

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-38878924553621824972009-09-01T17:24:00.003-06:002009-09-01T17:26:35.132-06:00

A study to be released soon claims that Tetris is good for the brain!I'm not sure if they are referring to the puzzle game itself or the oh-so-catchy music. I agree in either case.

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-52467741604084206742009-09-01T08:58:00.005-06:002009-09-01T10:00:04.212-06:00

Today is September 1st. Time to look at the sunspot number over the past month!EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.WAS ZERO.*The last time this happened? June, 1913. 1913!!!Solar Cycle 23 has now secured the bronze for the longest solar cycle in recorded history at 150 months. Gold and silver go to cycles 4 and 6 with 164 and 153 months, respectively. What is the perspective of a space science blogger on these

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-69849657900748608982009-08-31T09:08:00.000-06:002009-08-31T09:13:07.292-06:00

I rather enjoy the Consumerist, despite the fact that reading articles there often gets my blood boiling pretty quickly. It is, however, a great guide for consumers- they are quick to point out dishonest business dealings to keep the average shopper sharp. Additionally, they post disputes between companies and customers that have gone unresolved or when the customer is being downright screwed.

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-30467617374137263612009-08-30T20:50:00.003-06:002009-08-30T21:07:40.824-06:00

Ex-Lions players know how to rub it in.I'm watching Andre Goodman, ex-Lions cornerback, play well for Denver. Goodman was a starting corner for the championship Giants team a few years ago. The Lions struggle every year to get average players to play better, and eventually they do- by letting them go to other teams. The U.S. is completely f**ked.Here's a nice story about how GM has been

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-78468062241238600622009-08-28T09:31:00.002-06:002009-08-28T09:37:31.329-06:00

Seriously, Thunderfoot makes the coolest videos:

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-19682769778076694922009-08-28T09:12:00.002-06:002009-08-28T09:29:36.333-06:00

It's not really the concept - an entire webpage dedicated to translating the bible so it looks like it was written by cats - that lands this site on today's WTF.It's not the innumerable man hours already put into it (most of the bible, if not all, has already been translated.)It's not even the hilarious results:Genesis 1:1 - Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-3891145127630015502009-08-25T20:35:00.008-06:002009-08-25T22:18:01.254-06:00

Welcome to a new feature, Creationists Are Liars. This will be a non-regular section where I expose the blatant lies of creationists whenever they are brazen enough to draw my ire.To be fair, most creationists really aren't lying. There are some, however, who warp the truth so badly that what they say is indistinguishable from telling a lie. A text book example is the dark art of quote

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-44271171132593297242009-08-23T14:55:00.006-06:002009-08-24T08:38:09.775-06:00

Recently, the Lab decided to stringently enforce a rule saying that all laptops leaving lab premises must have encryption. Furthermore, they would administer the encryption. Okay, not so bad......but, you have one option for encryption. An option that doesn't work on any older Macintosh laptops. This means that a lot of older Lab-issued laptops are nothing more than overly expensive desktops

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-68644069799087662862009-08-23T14:37:00.004-06:002009-08-24T08:55:30.605-06:00

As I continue to argue with creationists around the web, I repeatedly refer to works of others that express the ideas of and evidence for evolution far better than I ever could. Among these are the videos made by YouTuber AronRa in his series, Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism.An example of his excellent work:With GIM, I set out to share links that demonstrate how the web can be a medium

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-80638536204831092732009-08-21T14:29:00.001-06:002009-08-21T14:30:31.945-06:00

I've been very short on time this week, so I'll keep today's WTF quick and sweet:Why?

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-70915455561014086102009-08-14T13:21:00.003-06:002009-08-14T13:34:33.083-06:00

Here it is. 17 weeks of pure torture. Oh, the heart wrench!The season summary fits in the WTF feature for two reasons: 1) it is the eve of the Lions preseason, and 2) until you see it, it is impossible to believe how bad that team really was. They were really, really bad. The closest they got to winning was a 12-10 loss in Minnesota. Here's the winning (losing?) play that gave the Vikings

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-714184966589383012009-08-13T21:46:00.003-06:002009-08-13T21:51:18.834-06:00

What a week.I was hoping to have some preliminary telescope pics up, but the fan in my MacBook died. It's over three years old, so I can't complain too much, but dag. Dag.Then, I was hoping to see some of the Perseid meteor shower, but the monsoon season returned just in time to cloud over the night sky.And I was hoping that there wouldn't be a large-scale, public justification for Monday's

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-2246370619594567422009-08-10T14:53:00.004-06:002009-08-10T15:34:17.999-06:00

I've learned quickly that the challenge of this article is to resist the urge to consistently grab low-hanging-fruit and work to grab more obscure pieces of the internet-- that is, if everyone knows about the sites I post about, what's the point?I admit failure on this front today, but with good reason. I've been debating the validity of evolution online intensely over the past week, and am

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-6773759655224185932009-08-10T14:38:00.002-06:002009-08-10T14:53:00.140-06:00

I've continued to play with the Galileoscope over the weekend. I will say this again, it has been the best $15 I've spent in my life. While I will certainly be looking for a high end 'scope when I can afford it, the Galileoscope does what a good intro telescope should. At both 25x and 50x, you can aim at any dark spot in the sky and see dozens of stars that were not visible with the naked eye.

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2663779605937303424.post-40472366026015411772009-08-07T20:35:00.003-06:002009-08-07T21:32:20.745-06:00

In this inaugural edition of Whiskey Tango Friday (WTF), I present a piece of the internet that I've been meaning to share for a long time.At last May's AGU meeting, I was perusing the research posters when I ran into one that piqued my interest. I can no longer remember the exact title, but it was something along the lines of how space ions can impact terrestrial weather. Okay, sounds neat,

spacecatazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522500697747783104noreply@blogger.com0