Here are the first couple of images from Mars, a shadow of the machine looking forward and a view of the rear left wheel. Amazing!!!
Sunday, August 05, 2012
First MSL Images From Mars
Here are the first couple of images from Mars, a shadow of the machine looking forward and a view of the rear left wheel. Amazing!!!
Friday, August 03, 2012
CBC: How to watch the Mars rover landing
Get info here from CBC about how to watch the landing of the Mars Science Laboratory's robot, Curiosity. There are a bunch of options, and that CBC article contains a ton of links. NASA coverage starts Sunday at 8:30pm PST, and the landing is two hours later.
Don't expect much awesome Mars imagery during this event. Mostly it's going to be a bunch of tense mission specialists in front of screens at various NASA locations around the US alternately biting their nails, crossing their fingers, and knocking on wood. Fully half of all missions to the surface of Mars have crashed.
In addition, round-trip light-time to and from Mars right now is about 28 minutes, so it's impossible for NASA to receive data from the spacecraft and respond with timely commands. Re-entry is totally autonomous, and landing at Mars will take about seven minutes. We'll hear about it at the speed of light--14 minutes later.
And then there will be great joy, or great sadness.
And if there's great joy, it will be another number of hours before the rover powers up, checks its health, and starts returning pictures.
And then: All eyes on Mars!
Don't expect much awesome Mars imagery during this event. Mostly it's going to be a bunch of tense mission specialists in front of screens at various NASA locations around the US alternately biting their nails, crossing their fingers, and knocking on wood. Fully half of all missions to the surface of Mars have crashed.
In addition, round-trip light-time to and from Mars right now is about 28 minutes, so it's impossible for NASA to receive data from the spacecraft and respond with timely commands. Re-entry is totally autonomous, and landing at Mars will take about seven minutes. We'll hear about it at the speed of light--14 minutes later.
And then there will be great joy, or great sadness.
And if there's great joy, it will be another number of hours before the rover powers up, checks its health, and starts returning pictures.
And then: All eyes on Mars!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Memo to fans of Joe Paterno
I saw this at blogontherun by Lex Alexander:
“To everyone mad about Joe Paterno’s statue being taken down — just look the other way and pretend it’s not happening.”
He'd heard it from his friend Rob Campany, who'd in turn seen it on Amanda Mahaffey's Facebook page. Brilliant.
On Joe Paterno And How The NCAA Got It Right
The news story, ICYMI, is that yesterday the NCAA hammered Penn State with what some consider to be exceedingly harsh penalties for not responding appropriately to a number of incidents of sexual abuse of young boys by Jerry Sandusky, an assistant football coach under Joe Paterno.
Penn State must pay a 60 million dollar fine, is banned from post season play for the next four years, has had vacated all 112 wins from 1998 to 2011, including 111 by Joe Paterno--removing him from his position as winningest coach in NCAA history. These penalties, and a reduction in the number of scholarships Penn State can carry, will do significant harm to the football program at the University for the foreseeable future, a bitter pill for some given that the football program was one of Penn State's most significant assets.
On Sunday, Penn State officials also ordered Joe Paterno's statue removed from the university grounds.
Joe Paterno, a very powerful and influential figure as a result of his tremendous success coaching the team, knew about Sandusky's abuse but decided not act on the information.
What I like about this judgement is that it punishes not just the individual abuser, but also punishes individuals and institutions that effectively sided with the perpetrator by failing to act decisively in support of the victims of that abuse.
This reminds me too of the final scenes in a Few Good Men, where the two soldiers, PFC Downey and LC Dawson, who were ordered to execute the code red against the victim, PFC Santiago, didn't understand, after Col. Jessep was found to have ordered the code red, why they were still dishonourably discharged. Eventually it dawns on Downey, and he explains to Dawson, that they "failed to stand up for those too weak to stand up for themselves."
Congratulations to the NCAA on having the courage to recognize the severity of the violation and breach of trust, and to respond with clarity and decisiveness.
Penn State must pay a 60 million dollar fine, is banned from post season play for the next four years, has had vacated all 112 wins from 1998 to 2011, including 111 by Joe Paterno--removing him from his position as winningest coach in NCAA history. These penalties, and a reduction in the number of scholarships Penn State can carry, will do significant harm to the football program at the University for the foreseeable future, a bitter pill for some given that the football program was one of Penn State's most significant assets.
On Sunday, Penn State officials also ordered Joe Paterno's statue removed from the university grounds.
Joe Paterno, a very powerful and influential figure as a result of his tremendous success coaching the team, knew about Sandusky's abuse but decided not act on the information.
What I like about this judgement is that it punishes not just the individual abuser, but also punishes individuals and institutions that effectively sided with the perpetrator by failing to act decisively in support of the victims of that abuse.
This reminds me too of the final scenes in a Few Good Men, where the two soldiers, PFC Downey and LC Dawson, who were ordered to execute the code red against the victim, PFC Santiago, didn't understand, after Col. Jessep was found to have ordered the code red, why they were still dishonourably discharged. Eventually it dawns on Downey, and he explains to Dawson, that they "failed to stand up for those too weak to stand up for themselves."
Congratulations to the NCAA on having the courage to recognize the severity of the violation and breach of trust, and to respond with clarity and decisiveness.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Friday, July 06, 2012
Sonic Boom Smashes Courthouse Windows
These Brazilian fighter jet fly-bys are just a little bit too low and too fast for the windows of the supreme court.
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Tesla Motors Regenerative Braking
I just read an interesting overview of regenerative braking in electric cars. When you step on the throttle, torque is applied to driving the motor and this consumes battery power, but when the car is rolling and you step off the throttle, reverse torque is applied to the engine and it immediately becomes a generator, not a consumer, of electrical power.
I was always curious how this worked, and if you are too, and want more details, read the article.
I was always curious how this worked, and if you are too, and want more details, read the article.
Monday, June 18, 2012
MS Access SQL IN Clause
I use the MS Access SQL 'IN' clause infrequently enough that I routinely forget the syntax, so this post encapsulates that information in an easy place for you and me to find. Here's the most basic example...
You can get lots more details here.
SELECT * FROM tblTable IN 'C:\Folder\File.mdb'
You can get lots more details here.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Simplified: Authenticity
Authenticity matters to people, relationships and groups. Authenticity is the state of being such that there is no difference between what a thing is, and what it appears to be. This implies a lack of deception, and suggests an absence of misdirection. When people are being authentic, it's like slaking your thirst on a hot day with a long cool drink.
Authenticity dispels illusion between people and allows them to gain traction in communication with each other, which is essential in order to resolve differences, which is in turn an essential component of intimacy. Given that the world is a chaotic place where the difference between awesomeness and fuckwittery is only very slight, therefore being able to distinguish reality is not trivial, and distinguishing the reality of who a person is and where that person stands makes a difference.
Honesty differs from authenticity because I can be both honest and pretentious at the same time. Honesty is a measure of the veracity of the information I communicate, and that is then a subset of authenticity. Authenticity is not just honesty, but it's also a statement of the fact of who I am in respect to that honesty, so authenticity communicates in multiple dimensions. Honesty is boolean.
Authenticity dispels confusion. If you are left feeling confused in a relationship, family, or group, then you might be participating in an interpersonal confusopoly, which profits from promoting uncertainty and insecurity. Interactions in these arenas are almost certainly not authentic, because authenticity confronts those problems. Authenticity is OK to not know the answer, and to be wrong, and to be confused, and so the exercise of authenticity encourages processes that always have the net effect of reducing confusion and disorientation.
Authenticity employs and is exercised via acknowledgement. If authenticity could walk, acknowledgement would be its legs. Acknowledgement is an action you take after you see, understand, perceive, hear, or in some other way receive a communication from someone, having the effect of producing a sense of validation in that person. Acknowledgement produces validation, which assures the other of the realness or accuracy of his or her perception, so acknowledgement promotes clarity and understanding, and dispels illusions and confusion.
Acknowledgement is not always pretty. Acknowledgement applies to failures and successes, bads and goods, critiques and compliments. If in relationship I can't raise a complaint, have my complaint validated, and begin a process of deconstructing the problem in which the other will acknowledge participation, then I am oppressed. If I am oppressed, then I will not be free, and I will be tempted to profit from misdirection in hidden efforts to undermine the oppressor, and authenticity dies. In this sense the death of authenticity, or it's vital presence, is ultimately the responsibility of the whole group.
In a group that is mired in illusion, you should be authentic, but if your authenticity doesn't make a difference, you should quit that group.
Authenticity is the state of being such that there is no difference between what a thing is, and what it appears to be. Be authentic. Demand it from others. Demand that others demand it from you.
Authenticity dispels illusion between people and allows them to gain traction in communication with each other, which is essential in order to resolve differences, which is in turn an essential component of intimacy. Given that the world is a chaotic place where the difference between awesomeness and fuckwittery is only very slight, therefore being able to distinguish reality is not trivial, and distinguishing the reality of who a person is and where that person stands makes a difference.
Honesty differs from authenticity because I can be both honest and pretentious at the same time. Honesty is a measure of the veracity of the information I communicate, and that is then a subset of authenticity. Authenticity is not just honesty, but it's also a statement of the fact of who I am in respect to that honesty, so authenticity communicates in multiple dimensions. Honesty is boolean.
Authenticity dispels confusion. If you are left feeling confused in a relationship, family, or group, then you might be participating in an interpersonal confusopoly, which profits from promoting uncertainty and insecurity. Interactions in these arenas are almost certainly not authentic, because authenticity confronts those problems. Authenticity is OK to not know the answer, and to be wrong, and to be confused, and so the exercise of authenticity encourages processes that always have the net effect of reducing confusion and disorientation.
Authenticity employs and is exercised via acknowledgement. If authenticity could walk, acknowledgement would be its legs. Acknowledgement is an action you take after you see, understand, perceive, hear, or in some other way receive a communication from someone, having the effect of producing a sense of validation in that person. Acknowledgement produces validation, which assures the other of the realness or accuracy of his or her perception, so acknowledgement promotes clarity and understanding, and dispels illusions and confusion.
Acknowledgement is not always pretty. Acknowledgement applies to failures and successes, bads and goods, critiques and compliments. If in relationship I can't raise a complaint, have my complaint validated, and begin a process of deconstructing the problem in which the other will acknowledge participation, then I am oppressed. If I am oppressed, then I will not be free, and I will be tempted to profit from misdirection in hidden efforts to undermine the oppressor, and authenticity dies. In this sense the death of authenticity, or it's vital presence, is ultimately the responsibility of the whole group.
In a group that is mired in illusion, you should be authentic, but if your authenticity doesn't make a difference, you should quit that group.
Authenticity is the state of being such that there is no difference between what a thing is, and what it appears to be. Be authentic. Demand it from others. Demand that others demand it from you.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
On the Difference Between Awesomeness and Fuckwittery
An observation I have about the world is that the difference between stunning awesomeness and incalculable fuckwittery is only a fraction of one percent, and I expect this principle is built into the universe.
The universe, for instance, is expanding at the perfect rate for it be really hard to determine if it will expand forever, or eventually contract in a 'big crunch.' It's a legendary urban myth that if gravity was slightly stronger, the fusion reaction in stars would burn too fast and there wouldn't be time for life to evolve. And by the same authority, if gravity was slightly weaker, stars wouldn't form. Their fusion reactions would never start up, and we'd never get elements more sophisticated than hydrogen and helium.
I think history, or at least how we look at history exacerbates this misunderstanding. We look back in time and paint Hitler in black and white as a completely unredeemable fuckwit, and a whole procession of Catholic saints as unmitigatedly awesome. But nobody confronted Hitler. He wasn't always powerful, and as a young man learning to be a painter in Austria, do we know for certain that he was unkind to cats and, say, other lousy painters? Maybe he smiled at the baker when he was buying bread, and maybe he took his lunch by the river and greeted passers-by with cheerfulness. And the saints, could they always, all of them, be clearly seen to stand head and moral shoulders above everyone else, with visible halos abounding and good works created and distributed by the dozen? By the oxen-cart load? No, the saints were dicks to people too, and had lousy days, and might have been cruel to cats.
For myself I'm never quite sure if I did the right thing. I make a call, do a decision, usually by the seat of my pants, and then I pray and cross my fingers and hope for the best. Maybe you had this feeling: you're at the outdoor rink in the park and you shoot a puck at the boards and it's a little high and it bounces up and into someone's back yard and hits the brick just an inch away from a window. Holy shit that was close, and how different might things have gone if you'd applied a force a fraction of one degree to the left?
And that time in traffic you accelerated at that yellow light? You were in a hurry...
And Rob Scuderi, if he'd been prepared for the hit, which he should have been? It's a game of inches, all of life, from beginning to end.
Dear internet, people who think they know something with some kind of absolute certainty, they frighten me, because the difference between remarkable awesomeness and stunning fuckwittery is, in fact, very subtle.
The universe, for instance, is expanding at the perfect rate for it be really hard to determine if it will expand forever, or eventually contract in a 'big crunch.' It's a legendary urban myth that if gravity was slightly stronger, the fusion reaction in stars would burn too fast and there wouldn't be time for life to evolve. And by the same authority, if gravity was slightly weaker, stars wouldn't form. Their fusion reactions would never start up, and we'd never get elements more sophisticated than hydrogen and helium.
I think history, or at least how we look at history exacerbates this misunderstanding. We look back in time and paint Hitler in black and white as a completely unredeemable fuckwit, and a whole procession of Catholic saints as unmitigatedly awesome. But nobody confronted Hitler. He wasn't always powerful, and as a young man learning to be a painter in Austria, do we know for certain that he was unkind to cats and, say, other lousy painters? Maybe he smiled at the baker when he was buying bread, and maybe he took his lunch by the river and greeted passers-by with cheerfulness. And the saints, could they always, all of them, be clearly seen to stand head and moral shoulders above everyone else, with visible halos abounding and good works created and distributed by the dozen? By the oxen-cart load? No, the saints were dicks to people too, and had lousy days, and might have been cruel to cats.
For myself I'm never quite sure if I did the right thing. I make a call, do a decision, usually by the seat of my pants, and then I pray and cross my fingers and hope for the best. Maybe you had this feeling: you're at the outdoor rink in the park and you shoot a puck at the boards and it's a little high and it bounces up and into someone's back yard and hits the brick just an inch away from a window. Holy shit that was close, and how different might things have gone if you'd applied a force a fraction of one degree to the left?
And that time in traffic you accelerated at that yellow light? You were in a hurry...
And Rob Scuderi, if he'd been prepared for the hit, which he should have been? It's a game of inches, all of life, from beginning to end.
Dear internet, people who think they know something with some kind of absolute certainty, they frighten me, because the difference between remarkable awesomeness and stunning fuckwittery is, in fact, very subtle.
Thursday, June 07, 2012
Sunday, June 03, 2012
Saturday, June 02, 2012
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