NOTE: this blog is no longer active as of 12/07. New one: http://blog.kirchhof.com
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Tue, 28 Mar 2006
Insult To Injury. Good.
Tom Delay has his concealed
carry permit revoked. (An indictee can't have one in Texas.)
Now let's take his wallet and his belt, and give him a nice warm
concrete bed to sleep on...
Posted at 08:54 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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Sat, 25 Mar 2006
Whoa. Attention Physics Geeks.
Supersymmetry has a good day. Apparently we have pretty compelling
evidence of a new meson that oscillates between matter and antimatter,
really fast. This is a fundamental discovery that opens all kinds of
neat doors.
Scientists of the DZero collider detector collaboration at the
Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory have
announced that their data on the properties of a subatomic particle,
the B_s meson ("B sub s"), suggest that the particle oscillates
between matter and antimatter in one of nature's fastest rapid-fire
processes-more than 17 trillion times per second. Their findings may
affect the current view of matter-antimatter asymmetry, and might
also offer a first glimpse of the contributions of new physics, such
as supersymmetry, to particle physics.
here's the rest of
the article.
Posted at 18:21 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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Fri, 24 Mar 2006
See The Death Of Microsoft Today
I have been mucking about with computers for 30 years, and today is
a real benchmarker. A group of folks have released AjaxWrite, a web
based word processor that clones the functionality of Microsoft
Word. You edit files on your computer. Go look it over and see what
the future holds. Doesn't matter what kind of machine you're using.
I don't think that it's too much of a hyperbole to say that
everything changes as of today.
From the Slashdot
post:
"But ajaxWrite is just the start. We have a library of applications we
have been working on to replace most of the standard PC software
titles. Every week we will launch a new sophisticated program on
Wednesday at 12:00 PST on ajaxlaunch.com. These programs will push the
boundaries of what people believe is possible today with web-delivered
software. These programs look and operate much like their traditional
software cousins, but are cross-platform, loaded dynamically, and are
available to users at no charge. I'm convinced if you try a few of
these products you will understand how the software business will
fundamentally change."
Yay.
Posted at 10:03 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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Fri, 17 Mar 2006
Best GWB Impersonation Ever
Frank Caliend
on Letterman.
Posted at 13:19 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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Glorious War
Was just listening to BBC news. Their reporter in Iraq fairly well
took down the current propaganda about the current operations in
Samarra being the "largest air assault since the beginning of the
war." There is no air assault; it's an air transport of 1500 soldiers
utilizing 50 helicopters. The reporter said that it was wholly
unremarkable; that there had been operations involving many more
troops on a routine basis. The asterisk at the bottom of the story is
that there probably hasn't been a 50 helicopter operation since the
beginning of the war. But there's no "air assault," no bombing, no
planes.
Your Pentagon public relations office at work. I wish that
our mainstream media would do something other than read press
releases into cameras.
Posted at 07:27 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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Thu, 16 Mar 2006
Oh, man...
Kevin
Drum quoting a new pew poll that has bush at 33%:
President Bush's declining image also is reflected in the single-word
descriptions people use to describe their impression of the
president....The single word most frequently associated with George
W. Bush today is "incompetent,"and close behind are two other
increasingly mentioned descriptors: "idiot" and "liar." All three are
mentioned far more often today than a year ago.
This will truly be a fun 30 months. How many think that he'll survive
it? I am beginning to think that the incumbent president in 2008 will
be Dennis Hastert.
Posted at 12:35 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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"The Final Word Is Hooray!"
Too good. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting has published a piece
that skewers our TV pundits quite effectively, simply by quoting
them. Go ye forth, and
examine our jingoistic pollyanna punditry.
Posted at 10:55 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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Wed, 15 Mar 2006
Just A Reminder
The
estimated net worth of American families is slightly over $47
trillion, and nearly all of it -- 90 per-cent -- would be needed to
cover government's current obligations. And don't think we can grow
our way out of this hole. According to the GAO, it would take real
double-digit growth over the next 75 years to pay off our current
debt--an impossible task, considering that the growth rate during the
1990s boom years averaged just 3.2 percent.
Oh, by the way, that was written a year ago.
Posted at 11:43 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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When Blue Monday Isn't Enough
Heh. Turn the sound up, and make your own blues. Perfect.
Posted at 10:50 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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Tue, 14 Mar 2006
Sorry For The Silence
It's a busy time, with preparing to move, work duties, spring
break and other insanities. Posting will likely be pretty light until
the first of the month, but it'll pick up then. Lots of neat stuff to
talk about.
If you're doing sxsw, remember to wear sensible shoes. :)
Posted at 16:54 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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Tue, 07 Mar 2006
I Hope That You're Registered
...so you can choose not to
vote today.
Posted at 12:14 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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