Category Archives: Technology

When the Global Is Warming And Then When That Same Global Isn’t

Posted on July 13, 2011 | Leave a comment

So, I can remember sitting in the corporate cafeteria in Minneapolis in 1998.  I remember eating my pizza and reading the Star Tribune.

I was fascinated by an article that was discussing the warming of the temperatures and the impact it would have on Minnesota.  It would turn the northern pine forests into grasslands.  Even a shift in a few degrees would be enough to change the way the landscape looked and behaved.  It would take years, but the impact would be unmistakeable.

I also remember discussing this with friends and family.  Some would disagree that we were getting warmer [though I felt things were changing even as a kid; we were getting much less snow as I grew older], others felt that while we were warming, the degree of warming would not cause the changes being discussed.  Others yet felt that yes, we were warming, but the pattern was predictable.  Nature changes.

Now fast forward to the current Global Warming debate.  I have always been interested in the topic and did my own reading.  Over time I’ve landed on the “Denier” side of the dabate.  And I’ve always felt a little uncomfortable there.

Until I bumped into Coyote.  Double Ivy, small business owner and Libertarian.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Global Warming, Technology

Tagged , , ,

Life Is Better Now

Posted on July 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

I picked my son up from day-care this afternoon.

He asked if I had seen the “rocket ship take off”.

I replied that I hadn’t, but asked him if he would like to see it when we got home?

He replied; “Nah, I saw it here on the computer.  Come on dad, let’s get pizza.”

My son is like 5.

Leave a comment

Posted in Fun, Raising Men, Technology

Tagged

Hurricane Season 2011: June Review

Posted on July 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

We’re one month into the hurricane season here on the Atlantic side of the continent.  While the season begins in June, the storms really don’t start spawning until later in the summer.  I’m not a climatologist. not that that stops OTHER people -ahem Gore ahem- from pretending, but I suspect the reason the season starts out so slow is that the oceans need to heat up.  Again, I don’t know…

Earlier this year the National Hurricane Center made some predictions.  Last year as the season wore on I thought that maybe the storms would be equally distributed.  However, as I mentioned above, they aren’t.  So, the advantage we’ll have this year is that we can keep track of the season as it progresses and we can compare to the season last year.

So, where are we?  Let’s check:

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Technology

Tagged , ,

Technology And Shopping

Posted on June 12, 2011 | 1 comment

The rush of technology and the din of the day can, at times, seem overwhelming.  And a lot of the time, it seems that technology, the gadgets and the drive for more things, takes much of the blame.  To be sure, there is much to be said that supports that.

E-mail is never ending.

Twitter is all encompassing.

Facebook can be a time sink that destroys entire days.

Blogging and on line news delivered to your shirt pocket?  Don’t even get me started.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Fun, Technology

Tagged , , ,

Testing iPad Posting

Posted on June 11, 2011 | 2 comments

My wife recently recieved her iPad 2 in the mail. That means her old iPad goes to me. I’m trying to see if this thing can replace a laptop for blogging.

So far so good. The interface is intuitive and easy; even fun.

Now, lets see if I can insert an image.

20110611-113904.jpg

Okay…..so that was easy’ish however, I get the feeling that I just published the post without wanting to be done.

Okay, now I’ gonna try and link a site:

Hmmmm….no joy.

It seems that I am posting in HTML mode and would need to be ble to “code” the hyperlink. Not an insurmountable problem but not as easy as it should be.

Now to try and try fonts.

Bold
Italic
Underline

Again, no joy.

If I wana include such fonts, I would have to code them as well. Not such a good feature.

Now, to be fair, this is the WordPress App. I think WordPress needs to do more work on this, not Apple. The other missing feature is it’s missing Apple’s real time spell check and auto-cap feature. Big dissatisfier. Oh, and the double tap period applicator. Boo.

I’ll next try to post from the native website and not the app. We’ll see if that’sany better. Or worse.

2 Comments

Posted in Fun, Technology

Tagged , , ,

Technology Is SO Cool: Corning’s Day of Glass

Posted on May 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

I’m a techno geek.  I love technology even if I’m crappy at incorporating it in my own everyday life.  [I have a weather station that I’ve been meaning to install for 3 years.  A wireless thermostat for 8 months.  And a networked printer for 1.]

We’re gonna redo our bathroom here in the net couple of months and I’ve always told my wife that I want the mirrors in our bathroom to be “computerized”.  I know what I envisioned but haven’t ever seen it laid out in real life.

Till now:

THAT is just such a cool world.

I wish I were growing up in this day and age!

Leave a comment

Posted in Fun, Technology

Tagged ,

Green Energy: Biodiesel And The Free Market

Posted on May 31, 2011 | 1 comment

We’ve seen copper prices go through the roof.  And we’ve seen copper thieves thrive.

We’ve seen gasoline prices go through the roof.  And we’ve seen gasoline thieves thrive.

We see the same thing everywhere we look.  The price of a thing goes up, the market [even black] reacts.

Perhaps it’s a coming of age for the biodiesel industry.  But it turns out that as the prices traditional energy sources climbs, the market for alternative energy sources expands.  And in some cases, that actually means there is a black market for those alternative sources.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Economics, Energy, Technology

Tagged , , , ,

Tornadoes Trends and Global Warming

Posted on May 24, 2011 | 4 comments

It’s been a tough spring.  We’ve seen storms ravage the south from Alabama to North Carolina.  And just today, Missouri was hammered.

It’s an active storm season to be sure.  But is this just weather or is it Global Warming:

…the jet stream forces in April were among the strongest ever recorded, possibly because of La Niña conditions in the Pacific Ocean. A La Niña pattern, which leads to cooler water conditions around the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, is associated with wetter and stormier conditions through the middle of the country as cooler air from Canada surges into warm moisture heading north — made warmer, many climate scientists say, by climate change.

Ahh yes…Climate Change – Global Warming – AGW!  Of course!

It has to be Global Warming, right?

Well, maybe not.

Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in Global Warming, Politics: National, Technology

Tagged

Hurricane Season 2011: May Predictions

Posted on May 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

Hurricane season is almost here.  June 1 marks the official beginning of the start of that season.  It’s from now until November that storm activity in the Atlantic starts to produce storms and hurricanes.

This year the US Government is predicting another busy year:

As many as 18 named tropical storms may develop during the six-month Atlantic hurricane season that begins June 1, according to forecasters at the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration. Six to 10 of those storms could strengthen into hurricanes with top winds of at least 74 mph, the agency said. Three to six could become major hurricanes, with maximum winds of 111 mph and up.

As I mentioned, this is seen as a busy storm season, however, not as busy as last year:

So, how’d they do?

  • Named Storms – 19
  • Hurricanes – 12
  • Major Hurricanes – 5

It’ll be close, but so far, they don’t think we’ll get to where we were last year.  And of course, the really important measurement of hurricanes is how many of ’em hit land.  We were lucky last year and in fact, we haven’t had a major hit in 5 years.

Here’s to continued good luck!

Leave a comment

Posted in Technology

Tagged ,

Great News For The Triangle

Posted on April 27, 2011 | Leave a comment

AT&T has long gotten a bad rap on their cellular coverage.  Common complaints include dropped calls, no signal, few bars and slow data speeds.

I can relate; I’ve had an iPhone for nearly 2 years now and have continually had problems with the coverage at my home and then again in a small “dead zone” on my way to the office.  A non-trivial condition considering how much I’m on the phone for work; both at home and on the way to the office.  While it’s gotten better over the last few years, it’s still frustrating and irritating.

However, things may soon change:

Raleigh, N.C. — The Research Triangle area is a high-tech hotbed when it comes to the emerging generation of faster wireless services with major carriers targeting the region for early deployment.

AT&T (NYSE: T) doesn’t intend to be left behind.

At a press conference on Wednesday that took place at a secluded North Raleigh data and switch center, the company disclosed plans for high-speed wireless broadband service known as “4G” to be rolled out later this year. They also stressed that the Triangle will be one of the first markets where new technology will deliver data, video and voice six to seven times faster than current 3G technology.

I can’t wait!

Leave a comment

Posted in Technology

Tagged , , ,