Cool Links

Big Solar Power Projects Or Anti-Environmental Boondoggles In The Making?

Big Solar Power Projects Or Anti-Environmental Boondoggles In The Making?

Apr 21 2011 | comment(s)

If you followed renewable energy in the 1980s and 1990s, all you heard about was ethanol.  Despite a lack of evidence it would be beneficial, activists - and a government point guard in Vice-President Al Gore - insisted ethanol would save us from fossil fuels.

In 2005, ethanol was finally mandated and subsidized but activists can't take the blame - it was President Bush and a Republican Congress that passed it.   Only then did environmentalists and their staff scientists finally give it a critical look and ethanol turned out to be expensive, inefficient and worse for the environment.
Just In Time For NASCAR - Octane 120 Beer Arcade Machine

Just In Time For NASCAR - Octane 120 Beer Arcade Machine

Apr 18 2011 | comment(s)

Wait for it, wait for it...yes, you can drink and drive with the swanky new Octane 120 Beer Arcade Machine but it will cost you as much as a darn good used car - $6,000.   

It has a wheel, and foot pedals, but when you are bored weaving around Talladega you can also play classic arcade games.   The clincher is the kegerator behind the rear seat - it even has a secondary tap in the dash in case your main goes out.  That's good engineering, people.

The force-feedback steering wheel is fully adjustable, it has a Full HD projector up front and comes with 200 racing and arcade video games.   PS3 connectivity is also thrown in.
Claim: Two Of The Nails Used In The Jesus Crucifixion Found

Claim: Two Of The Nails Used In The Jesus Crucifixion Found

Apr 18 2011 | comment(s)

Simcha Jacobovici says he has discovered two of the nails used to crucify Jesus - and a movie (naturally) is showing up at a propitious time, just a few days before Good Friday (naturally).

A publicity stunt?  Hard to say.    Jacobovici claims to be simply making a 'strong' case, which is what archeology does.  Previously, Jacobovici said he found the lost tomb of Jesus.
 
The site is an ancient Jerusalem grave discovered in 1990 which may have been the burial place of the Jewish high priest Caiaphas, who in the New Testament presided over the trial of Jesus and sent him to the Romans, which led to his death.
Shrugging At

Shrugging At "Atlas Shrugged"

Apr 15 2011 | comment(s)

Overtly political movies are a tough sell.  Hey, so are overtly religious movies (see the collapse of the "Left Behind" movies despite bestseller stats) and dated movies are not so great either.
Can Peer-Reviewed Videos Help Surgeons Become Better?

Can Peer-Reviewed Videos Help Surgeons Become Better?

Apr 15 2011 | comment(s)

You can learn to play guitar better watching YouTube videos - it doesn't replace practice, it helps inspire and educate by bringing talented practitioners to the world in a way not possible 40 years ago.

Why not surgery?  Otolaryngologist Martin Young writing at KevinMD.com argues that because he has learned so much from watching more experienced surgeons work, peer-reviewed videos might be the wave of the future - obviously a South Korean teenager may be fun to watch play guitar but he is not going to be a source for best surgical practices.   
Eggs Too Religious? Name Them

Eggs Too Religious? Name Them "Spring Spheres"

Apr 13 2011 | comment(s)

If you want to take Easter away from religious people, you create Easter eggs and Easter bunnies and Rankin-Bass cartoons.  But what if the very term 'Easter' is offensive to schools in progressive Seattle?   Then you have to get another degree away and insist Easter eggs be termed 'spring spheres'.

A sophomore in high school, 'Jessica', volunteered in a third grade class.   "At the end of the week I had an idea to fill little plastic eggs with treats and jelly beans and other candy, but I was kind of unsure how the teacher would feel about that," Jessica said.   Why would she be concerned?  Due to a meeting earlier in the week where she learned about "their abstract behavior rules."
Forbes Figures Out How Much Money Smaug, Dragon Of

Forbes Figures Out How Much Money Smaug, Dragon Of "The Hobbit", Is Really Worth

Apr 08 2011 | comment(s)

Forbes has done its annual Fictional 15 ranking of the richest fictional characters.    Why?  It doesn't matter why.   #1 is, as you'd expect, Scrooge McDuck, and #2 is Carlisle Cullen who, I am told, is one of the sparkly vampires in that sparkly vampire series that delved into important issues like how important it is to have a boyfriend.
Wind Farms Much Less Efficient Than Claimed

Wind Farms Much Less Efficient Than Claimed

Apr 07 2011 | comment(s)

An analysis funded by conservation charity the John Muir Trust has found wind turbine claims are overstated and output was low during the times of highest demand, producing below 10% of capacity for more than a third of the time.
75-Year-Old Woman Cuts Off Internet For Armenia

75-Year-Old Woman Cuts Off Internet For Armenia

Apr 07 2011 | comment(s)

A 75-year old Georgian woman who was scavenging for copper to sell sliced through an underground cable and cut off Internet services to all of neighboring Armenia.   Pulling up unused copper cables for scrap is a common means of making money in the former Soviet Union. 

Web users in the nation of 3.2 million people were left twiddling their thumbs for up to five hours.  Maybe they even talked to each other.
Green Energy's War On Poor People

Green Energy's War On Poor People

Apr 07 2011 | comment(s)

98 percent of cassava chips exported from Thailand went to China to make biofuel, allowing China to claim to be the world leader in green energy. 

The problem: Thai exports of cassava chips have increased nearly fourfold since 2008, and the price of cassava has roughly doubled, which means the starchy root which has long been a staple of the diet for rich and poor is increasingly out of reach for those with lower incomes.  China was wise enough to stop using its own corn for biofuel due to the spike in cost that resulted.
Particle Discovery - Be Skeptical, But Be Impressed

Particle Discovery - Be Skeptical, But Be Impressed

Apr 06 2011 | comment(s)

Early reaction to the publication of a paper by physicists at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory hints at the existence of a previously unknown elementary particle.  Is it the Higgs boson?  No, it is not, as Tommaso Dorigo shows, so you should be skeptical about the sensationalism this kind of thing often brings.  
How Google Saves Billions In Taxes

How Google Saves Billions In Taxes

Apr 02 2011 | comment(s)

Google Europe managed to generate $7 billion in profits yet paid tax on only $50+ million.  How is that possible?   They're headquartered in Ireland to take advantage of its low 12.5% tax rate but even then get to duck out of paying much.
Takers, Not Makers - Can We All Work For The Government?

Takers, Not Makers - Can We All Work For The Government?

Apr 01 2011 | comment(s)

More Americans work for the government than in manufacturing, farming, fishing, forestry, mining and utilities combined.

The number one in employer in Silicon Valley, the home of high technology for the world, is not Intel or Google or Apple, it's the federal government.  And the California state government is the number two.   In total, California has 2.4 million government employees—twice as many as people at work in manufacturing.
Demons In The White House? The Science Answer

Demons In The White House? The Science Answer

Apr 01 2011 | comment(s)

Louis Farrakhan, the controversial Nation of Islam leader, defended Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and said demons were to blame for President Barack Obama's assault on Gadhafi.

Sure, it can be confusing that Democrats have applied the fuzzy-wuzzy 'freedom fighters' label to Libyans to rationalize a Democratic president going all neo-con and attacking the leader of a sovereign nation which is no threat to anyone outside its own borders... but demons?
Trader Joe's Pizzas Recalled Because Of...Wheat

Trader Joe's Pizzas Recalled Because Of...Wheat

Mar 30 2011 | comment(s)

It used to be that natural ingredients were good, but as western civilization has gotten more concerned about health, immune diseases and allergies have gone way up.  Wheat is listed as a 'known allergen' by the US Department of Agriculture.   

Now 131,000 pounds of pizza products shipped to Trader Joe's stores nationwide have been recalled because they contain wheat.  Yes, wheat.  The product that set off the agricultural revolution in Europe and made them world leaders.  The product that fed the Roman Empire.   The product we subsidize to keep it profitable for farmers because food is a strategic resource.
NBC's Brian Williams Does Not Mention G.E.'s $0 Tax Bill

NBC's Brian Williams Does Not Mention G.E.'s $0 Tax Bill

Mar 30 2011 | comment(s)

G.E., General Electric Corp., which owns NBC News, generated a profit of $14.2 billion last year.   It's taxes paid for 2010?  $0.

Did NBC mention that?  They did not.  So the next time you think that the media is only biased when the network is Fox News, keep that in mind.   Did ABC cover the story?   You betcha, of course they covered a competitor.
Twitter Monitor Plus Algorithm Yields 'Credible' News

Twitter Monitor Plus Algorithm Yields 'Credible' News

Mar 30 2011 | comment(s)

If you have used Twitter, you either love it or hate it.   Regardless of how you feel on the subject, social media sites, like Twitter, have become a source of news for some, though if you think people only watch news on television they already agree with, you can imagine what their Twitter feeds are like.

John Timmer at Ars Technica discusses some Yahoo! researchers who say they can create an automated system that identifies newsworthy events and judges their reliability with an accuracy of nearly 90 percent.
Japan’s Earthquake: Deciphering the Fury

Japan’s Earthquake: Deciphering the Fury

Mar 30 2011 | comment(s)

The events that have afflicted Japan since the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami of March 11 are all too well known, but the events that occurred before and the even more ominous events that may occur in the near future are less known.
The Future Of Long-Form Journalism?

The Future Of Long-Form Journalism?

Mar 28 2011 | comment(s)

Is deeply reported journalism going the way of the fax machine?  Is the Web Apple says is our future, on tiny screens and mobile devices, all wrong for long-form, edited, fact-and-spell-checked work?
It Isn't Easy Being President

It Isn't Easy Being President

Mar 27 2011 | comment(s)

President Obama is often portrayed as an "anti-war" candidate, now and during the 2008 election.  He is clearly no such thing, as his willingness to take unilateral action against the leader of a country which is no threat to anyone outside its own borders (just like Iraq) demonstrates.

Yes, he was critical of the Iraq War but only because he preferred imperialism “not just through military force, but through the force of our ideas; through economic power, intelligence and diplomacy.”