tingilinde

dangerous astronomy

ouch - a $2M telescope bites the dust - watch the video

(thanks for the link Sukie)

the other kind of person in alaska

John Luther Adams - a brillant composer (bonus points as I know him) - just won the Nemmers Composition Prize

excellent!

One of my favorite albums from him is In the White Silence (iTunes link) with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble.   And here is a recent performance of In a Treeless Place, Only Snow.

climate change indicators in the US

The EPA recently published a report on Climate Change Indicators in the US (pdf) that consists of summaries on the current best science of 24 indicators.  It seems to be written for the educated general public rather than a completely technical focus.    Lots of good data and pointers ....

snip

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published this report, Climate Change Indicators in the United States, to help readers interpret a set of important indicators to better understand climate change. The report presents 24 indicators, each describing trends in some way related to the causes and effects of climate change. The indicators focus primarily on the United States, but in some cases global trends are presented in order to provide context or a basis for comparison. The indicators span a range of time periods, depending on data availability. For each indicator, this report presents one or more graphics showing trends over time; a list of key points; and text that describes how the indicator relates to climate change, how the indicator was devel- oped, and any factors that might contribute to uncer- tainty in the trend or the supporting data (referred to in this report as “indicator limitations”).

The report also includes a summary of major findings associated with each indicator (see Summary of Key Findings on p. 4). Additional resources that can provide readers with more information appear at the end of the report (see Climate Change Resources on p. 69).

Although some of the indicators show that fundamental environmental changes are now occurring likely as a result of climate change, others are not as clear. As new or more complete data become available, EPA plans to update the indicators presented in this report and pro- vide additional indicators that can broaden our under- standing of climate change.

EPA selected the 24 indicators presented in this report from a broader set of 110 indicators, many of which were identified at an expert workshop (November 30 to December 1, 2004) on climate change indicators con- vened by the National Academy of Sciences and funded by EPA. The indicators in this report were chosen using a set of screening criteria that considered usefulness, objectivity, data quality, transparency, ability to show a meaningful trend, and relevance to climate change.

fixing stuff

A generation or two ago many - perhaps most - consumer goods were designed for repair.  Most communities had the appliance repair guy who fixed anything from toasters to televisions.   Now many items are made to be manufacturer repairable only or, worse yet, disposable.

iFixit is devoted to Mac, iPad and iPhone repair.   They offer excellent online repair guides for nothing and sell parts. I've used them a few times with good results although there are times when the cost of repair is too high to go ahead.

Now they offer non Apple guides - digital cameras, game consoles and the like.   This may be useful.

bikes for utility

In the US the utility function of the bicycle is often eclipsed by sport and recreation.  Displacement of cars probably rests on the growth of utility cycling.   There is a nice blog by that name complete with a description of what they mean by the phrase.

Some notes on using a bike for shopping.   

Carrying stuff on a bike can be a challenge.  Here is  beautiful wooden bike crate complete with cup holders. (someone had to do it) shown on one of Trek's eco design bikes - they almost look made for each other.  Now for a rear basket.  Imagine this on a bike with wooden fenders...  I wonder if they'd do a taller version for Colleen's bike?

amazing solar images - raining plasma

From the SDO 

check out the explanation and movies here

rebooting european air travel

Airspace Rebooted from ItoWorld on Vimeo.

the ceo beauty show

Are looks important for a CEO?

npr on the bike "revolution in some US cities

from NPR

500 frame per second movie of the apollo 11 launch

The launch as seen from the base of the launch pad -- amazing!

expand it to the full screen