Wednesday, February 27, 2008
More Elaina, Nathan Pictures
Some of these were taken without the flash which accounts for the golden shade on some photos.
Monday, February 25, 2008
ELAINA 4 MONTH UPDATE
Elaina just had her 4 month checkup. She's as healthy as ever. The cereal experiment is, well still an experiment. She's taking to it about like how take to lima beans, gagging and screaming while choking them down with a drink of water.
Even more noteworthy, Elaina's weight and height are OFF OF THE CHARTS. In fact, her weight is higher than average nine month olds as indicated by my handy graph below.
Even more noteworthy, Elaina's weight and height are OFF OF THE CHARTS. In fact, her weight is higher than average nine month olds as indicated by my handy graph below.
As my mom tells me, it must come from my side of the family.
She also rolled over in her crib yesterday afternoon.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Uncle Fidel Resigns
Not much of a shocker here.
We all knew he was in ill health. But what surprised me was that this news took a backseat to other news of the day this morning. Granted, the communist threat is a passing thought nowadays compared to what it was say in the 1950s through the 1980s but it probably deserved a little more coverage locally. In Ohio, the presidental candidates are heavily campaigning for the Democratic nomination which truthfully is a bigger story here in 2008. If this were the 1984 election year, Fidel's demise would be at the forefront.
We all knew he was in ill health. But what surprised me was that this news took a backseat to other news of the day this morning. Granted, the communist threat is a passing thought nowadays compared to what it was say in the 1950s through the 1980s but it probably deserved a little more coverage locally. In Ohio, the presidental candidates are heavily campaigning for the Democratic nomination which truthfully is a bigger story here in 2008. If this were the 1984 election year, Fidel's demise would be at the forefront.
His brother Raul, temporary president of Cuba since July 31, 2006 could well become the permanent President.
The other possibility would be Carlos Laga, Cuba's Vice President.
Its amazing that most of the younger generation has no knowledge of a world with an iron curtain. A world before the fall of the Berlin Wall. A college freshman this fall was not born when the wall fell. Maybe this is just a function of me getting older and feeling like my parents' felt back in the 70s and 80s as they grew into adulthood and ensuing out-of-touch life that surfaces when you become a parent.
You heard it hear first. Within 10 years, Cuba's communist government will be dissolved similar to what happened in the Soviet Union in 1990. Let us just let it happen naturally without military intervention.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
80s nostalgia continued...
What movie is this from?
It was in this movie, WarGames, that I was introduced to computer modems.
Before my buddy at "The2DollarBill" criticizes me for not writing about Super Tuesday, let me say that I am very surprised that McCain is still going strong. My prediction on the Dems: Hillary gets the nomination. You heard it here first!
Monday, February 04, 2008
The 80s Revival Continues...
The 80s revival continues and its hotter than ever. Thankfully without Gary Coleman.
Indiana Jones is scheduled for release this summer, Rambo is in theaters and now Knight Rider is coming back to television on NBC!
Its fast, high octane, non-stop 80s action.
Here's my synopsis of what's coming:
A 65 year old Harrison Ford digging up ancient ruins, a 61 year old Sly Stallone fighting in southeast asia...again. And now, David Hasselhoff is back with more Knight Rider action. What one of these classic film series will work with the viewing public more than the others? Do I really need to answer this?
NBC sent out an official press release on the upcoming new Knight Rider series. Evidentally "The Hoff" will make a special appearance.
If your not convinced, here is a comment from one Knight Rider fan on the upcoming series:
"Wow, they've finally done it... they've found an idea that sucks worse than TKR. Not only do Ford vehicles look ordinary as hell, all this "hack any system", shapeshifting bullshit is derivative box-office zombie crap, obviously cooked up by someone who thinks that as long as it's a black car that talks and David Hasselhoff makes an appearance, it's Knight Rider. Personally I'd rather see YouTube footage of Hasselhoff yelling at his kid and trying to eat a hamburger."
If that's not a ringing endorsement, I don't know what is.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Who is this guy?
Can you see this guy as a video game inventer?
Maybe an accountant but not video games.
25 years ago, Warren Davis created Q-BERT. He created this early 80s game from an inspiration by a programmer who etched cubes on a screen. Davis describes his brainchild:
"When I looked at it, it occurred to me you could sculpt a pyramid out of it such that if a ball fell onto the top, it would have two choices of which way to bounce, so with one random byte I could create a path for a falling ball"
...and so Q-Bert was born.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
New Pics of the Kids
Recently, we finally got around to getting studio quality pictures of the kids. Here are our favorites:
Monday, January 21, 2008
Scientific Advisor says: "No Responsibility for Errors"
This article was from the site http://www.climateaudit.org/ on January 13th.
______________________________________________________
Gore Scientific “Adviser” says that he has no “responsibility” for AIT errors
By Steve McIntyre
In earlier posts, we observed that Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth claimed that “Dr Thompson’s thermometer” confirmed Michael Mann’s hockey stick, but, when analysed, what Gore described as “Dr Thompson’s thermometer” merely proved to be Michael Mann’s hockey stick mis-identified. No wonder it resembled Mann’s hockey stick - or, to use the phrase more common in climate science, no wonder there was a “remarkable” resemblance.
Recently we’ve seen Pierrehumbert’s hysterics over at RC about Courtillot’s misidentification of a solar series. I’m sure that all of you recall similar hysterics from Pierrehumbert calling Al Gore out on this error. You don’t?
Hu McCulloch of Ohio State University now writes about a recent encounter with Lonnie Thompson, the serial ice core non-archiver:
On January 11, Lonnie Thompson gave a talk on Climate change at Ohio State. After his talk, I asked him if the graph identified by Al Gore as “Dr. Thompson’s Thermometer” in his book and film was really based on his ice core research.
Thompson admitted that an error had been made, and even had a slide ready that showed the data of the Mann Hockey Stick plus Jones instrumental data that Gore’s figure was based on, alongside an average of dO18 z-scores from 6 of his Andean and Himalayan ice cores, similar to the 7-series graph that appeared in his 2006 PNAS article. He stated that he recognized the error right away, and even sent Gore (and Mann, as I recall) an e-mail pointing out the mistake.
When I pressed him if it wouldn’t be appropriate to make a more public announcement, given the high-profile nature of the error, Ellen Mosley-Thompson, his wife and co-author, stood up and offered that it was Gore’s error, not theirs, so that they had no responsibility for it, and that in any event there was no forum in which to make a correction.
I suggested that since OSU’s Byrd Polar Research Center has a website with a News page, it would be trivial and virtually costless to post a press release clarifying the matter for the millions of readers and viewers of Gore’s book and film who are not on Thompson’s e-mail list.
“Gore’s error”. “No responsibility.” “No forum”.
Here’s a picture from the OSU website. Ohio State University press releases have also stated that Thompson was an adviser to Gore for the documentary.
Thompson’s online CV says that he was on the “Science Advisory Board” for Inconvenient Truth prior to its release in April 2006. So he was on the Board but he didn’t bear any responsibility. Sure, Lonnie. Sure, Ellen.
Gore used the term “my friend Lonnie Thompson” and Thompson doesn’t know how to correct the error. Sure, Lonnie.
“No responsibility.” “No forum”. No shame.
______________________________________________________
Gore Scientific “Adviser” says that he has no “responsibility” for AIT errors
By Steve McIntyre
In earlier posts, we observed that Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth claimed that “Dr Thompson’s thermometer” confirmed Michael Mann’s hockey stick, but, when analysed, what Gore described as “Dr Thompson’s thermometer” merely proved to be Michael Mann’s hockey stick mis-identified. No wonder it resembled Mann’s hockey stick - or, to use the phrase more common in climate science, no wonder there was a “remarkable” resemblance.
Recently we’ve seen Pierrehumbert’s hysterics over at RC about Courtillot’s misidentification of a solar series. I’m sure that all of you recall similar hysterics from Pierrehumbert calling Al Gore out on this error. You don’t?
Hu McCulloch of Ohio State University now writes about a recent encounter with Lonnie Thompson, the serial ice core non-archiver:
On January 11, Lonnie Thompson gave a talk on Climate change at Ohio State. After his talk, I asked him if the graph identified by Al Gore as “Dr. Thompson’s Thermometer” in his book and film was really based on his ice core research.
Thompson admitted that an error had been made, and even had a slide ready that showed the data of the Mann Hockey Stick plus Jones instrumental data that Gore’s figure was based on, alongside an average of dO18 z-scores from 6 of his Andean and Himalayan ice cores, similar to the 7-series graph that appeared in his 2006 PNAS article. He stated that he recognized the error right away, and even sent Gore (and Mann, as I recall) an e-mail pointing out the mistake.
When I pressed him if it wouldn’t be appropriate to make a more public announcement, given the high-profile nature of the error, Ellen Mosley-Thompson, his wife and co-author, stood up and offered that it was Gore’s error, not theirs, so that they had no responsibility for it, and that in any event there was no forum in which to make a correction.
I suggested that since OSU’s Byrd Polar Research Center has a website with a News page, it would be trivial and virtually costless to post a press release clarifying the matter for the millions of readers and viewers of Gore’s book and film who are not on Thompson’s e-mail list.
“Gore’s error”. “No responsibility.” “No forum”.
Here’s a picture from the OSU website. Ohio State University press releases have also stated that Thompson was an adviser to Gore for the documentary.
Thompson’s online CV says that he was on the “Science Advisory Board” for Inconvenient Truth prior to its release in April 2006. So he was on the Board but he didn’t bear any responsibility. Sure, Lonnie. Sure, Ellen.
Gore used the term “my friend Lonnie Thompson” and Thompson doesn’t know how to correct the error. Sure, Lonnie.
“No responsibility.” “No forum”. No shame.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
The Colonel's Daughter has RSV
A few days ago, I was notified that one of my good friend's twin daughters was diagnosed with RSV or Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
She was admitted to the hospital and is now doing much better. She will be heading home if not all ready.
Get well soon, Maddy.
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