The Big Think

9mmsfx.com has some cool contact lenses.

Is it just me, or does the inclusion of the words “Retired General” in Question 6 constitute a biased question? Why not just “nominee,” or just his name? With the positive public sentiment that the military currently enjoys, there is no doubt in my mind that the outcome of the poll is affected by the wording of this question. Granted, the effect is very slight and subtle. I’m not asserting that the wording of the question influenced the poll by more than 1%, but is that somehow permissible even though it’s such a small percentage? And the fact that this poll has been trotted around the past few days as Oracular makes it seem to me to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I am all for polls, but shouldn’t USATODAY ask unbiased poll questions?
For more, check out the “19th Century Guide to Dishonest Argument“. I was specifically interested in the part on using biased language. “A speaker often betrays his purpose beforehand by the names which he gives to things.“

Here’s an amazing thing I learned this morning. Whenever Boeing certifies a new aircraft (in this case a 777), they have to go through a bunch of tests. I’ll let X-plane’s Austin Meyer tell the story:

One of the certification requirements is that the plane be able to lose an engine at the most inopportune of times and places (perhaps just before liftoff at 160 mph on the runway with a full load of cargo and fuel, with the end of the runway approaching fast… perhaps at 500 mph and 40,000 feet over the North Atlantic in the dead of Winter) and still be able to bring everyone home unhurt. And the FAA doesn’t accept predictions or promises. You actually have to go out and DO it. Across the Ocean on one mighty engine. “When we take this thing around the world on the eval flights we bring movies and sleeping bags and camp out here!” my host says, pointing to the vast empty cabin floor between the computers and aft water tanks. Sleeping in a sleeping bag doing mach 0.84 over the North Atlantic at 40,000 feet on one engine. The other shut down, and LEFT shut down, for hours. “But what if you lose the engine for REAL that is holding the plane?” I ask “You can’t possibly start the one you shut down for testing after it has been windmilling through the air at -100 degrees in thin air for the last 6 hours! No engine can start that is so cold!” “Sure we can! That’s part of the certification! We air start and windmill-start as part of certification on every plane”.

Holy shock heating, Batman. To go from -100 to the inferno of full jet thrust and not have the engine fly apart…. amazing engineering.

And speaking of X-plane, if you’re an aviation buff, be sure to check out Austin’s website and software. The guy is the computer equivalent of Orville Wright. He’s the sole programmer behind X-plane: the cross platform computer flight sim. Although calling it a “flight sim” is a bit like calling the Hurricane Isabel a nice little breeze.

“I must say I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go into the library and read a good book.”
Groucho Marx

Gordon Jump, Maytag pitchman and WKRP star, died today at the age of 71. I met Mr. Jump at a restaurant where I played piano for 7 years. Very nice guy. I’ve been wondering about his health the last few years as Maytag had introduced a younger, hipper guy as their new personality. I wondered if they were taking precautions.

Us Representative Jim Marshall (D-GA) has recently posted a fantastic letter about the media’s complicity in America’s post-war opinion-forming. More than anything I’ve heard on television in the past few months, this piece has given me hope that our efforts rebuilding Iraq are on the right track. It makes me angry and sad that I only hear about the deaths, the problems, the disenfranchised Iraqi people, and not the progress that has been attained in the past few months. My hope is that this letter will open people’s eyes about the good that is going on there.

In the past few years, I’ve begun thinking of the American media as the fourth branch of government - and the only one without constitutional checks and balances. A free press is a wonderful, necessary thing for a free society, but media that has lost sight of its purpose (providing information to the populace), and instead gone after market share and money, can only end in a disaster for the country. And that goes for both CNN AND Fox. “Centered News” and “Unbiased reporting” don’t seem to mean anything any more. I’ve also noticed a peculiar parallel between the American media and the French/English Court system in the time of Louis XV/Henry VIII- constantly vying for position and favor.

Between that and the fact that many American citizens would rather watch the mental pablum of Joe Millionaire/Fear Factor than participate in world events, sometimes the current state of our country just makes me sad.

Ever since college, One Big Happy has always cracked me up.

Virginia Tech’s PowerMac G5 Cluster.

Apple Computer has updated its OS X software to version 10.2.8. Get it here.

Farewell Galileo. And thank you.

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I musf follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And wither then? I cannot say.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Fellowship of the Ring, p 82

Just found out an old friend is going to be driving around the world in a Land Rover. The trip is for Parkinson’s research. Read here for details. I don’t know if it’s public knowledge that he’s going yet, so I won’t steal his thunder by saying who it is.
They have a “take me with you!” program where you can join the trip for a few weeks. Sounds like a good project for a documentary filmmaker.
Cool! I just noticed that Steve Wozniak is on the Advisory Board.
“I think it’s marvelous when anyone gets off their butt,” Chapman says. “And it’s not just a selfish ‘I’m going to drive around the world’ thing. They’re doing it properly, with a capital ‘P.’ ”
*UPDATE* Turns out the team members were announced a while back. The friend I was talking about is Rolf Potts. Wish I’d have known about the trip Rolf!

Ever want to build your own underground Hobbit Hole? Here’s how.

I’m building a big prop for an upcoming show. Can’t say much about it except to say it’s fun to build in my workshop again. Wood is expensive and adds up quick. I’m just glad someone else is footing the bill. The client is going to do the finish work (the part I hate), so all I have is the fun construction stuff. Erin remarked how quickly I put the basic structure together. Now that I have the right tools and have my shop semi-organized, it’s amazing how much more efficient I am. Lots of fun.

Holy cow. Craig Wallace turns junkyard scrap into low-yield fusion.

from Inside Mac Games:
In a move sure to rock the gaming industry , Worlds of Warcraft will feature cities , each controlled by a different race, in which you can perform “quests” involving shopkeepers, before moving out into the larger world. “We’re trying to decide if we want to include swords as well, but we don’t want to throw too much at the player at one time,” said an anonymous insider.

“I think if you left grownups to do what they really actually wanted most in all the world to do, every single one of them would lie down and take a nap for the rest of their life. I know this because that’s what every grownup does as soon as they’re alone. Even if they claim they’re going to read or watch a vid they always end up taking a nap. I hope I’m never so old that taking a nap is the most fun thing to do. I mean, how is that different from being dead, except for the air conditioning?”
Orson Scott Card Lovelock, P. 205 (Diana)

“Failure, for some people, is a vital survival skill. To work at an artistic level that has some chance of changing the world means risking that your work will change you. Not everyone can sustain themselves through that process. Not everyone can be honest enough to face their internal booby traps and hollow places, let alone those lurking in the world. Court fools and medieval magicians used to say that magic always had a price, even the littlest bit of it. To the extent that drive and talent are magic they are right, and for those unwilling to pay the toll, small risks and little failures are the safer road.”
Conner Freff Cochran

Here’s a very cool app that lets you reroute any audio output on your Mac (OS X) to any audio input. Very useful if you do any audio/music work.

Is this how weblogging is after awhile?

Got in about 1am last night so I’m pretty beat. Barry called me up this morning and we’re going to see Koyaanisqatsi next week in Dallas. Should be fun. I’ve never seen it on the big screen before.

Speaking of Barry, his cancer is now officially in remission. Read his cancer diaries for a deep look into the process of having the disease in our society.
Barry is one of those people you just have to get to know. Talented, thoughtful, literate, argumentative, interested in everything with well-thought-out opinions. A fellow musician who loves experiencing the new and the numinous. You definitely don’t want to enter into an argument with him if you don’t want your viewpoint challenged. I’ve been lucky enough to know this guy for about 15 years.
Time flies when the conversation is good, bub. You had a lot of folks praying for you. Glad you’re back.