December 2006

There were 51 posts published in December 2006 (this is page 4 of 6).

A Look At Two Burning Buildings

Take a look at this YouTube clip to see how steel frame buildings usually burn. Then take a look at how WTC7 burned, which as you know was never hit by a fuel-laden airliner. As the clip says, any questions?

About every two weeks I walk right past the hole in the ground that used to be the World Trade Center. There’s a window in a building facing the site with a big peace sign in it. Next to it is another sign saying “DISSENT IS PATRIOTIC.” Seeing that sign at the scene of the biggest crime in American history gives me a little more hope in this country. Continue reading →

Shuttle Launch Scrubbed

The launch of space shuttle Discovery on STS-116 was scrubbed at 9:36 PM tonight due to a low ceiling violation with the weather above Kennedy Space Center. An hour before the 10 minute launch window the weather looked like it would hold. As the seconds ticked down on the launch window, you could see the disappointment in the faces of launch controllers. While I’m sure they’re disappointed, I’m pleased they didn’t compromise the safety of the shuttle and crew.

The next window allowing a launch is later this week. Odds are it won’t be a spectacular nighttime launch, though. Bah. Continue reading →

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Shuttle Scheduled For Launch Tonight

Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled for launch tonight at 9:35 PM EST. If you’ve got a view of the southeast sky at 10 degrees above horizon, you may see the launch as the shuttle progresses through the sky.

I remember seeing a eerily beautiful glowing cloud in the sky as I was driving home from work a few years back. If I recall correctly, it was exhaust from a rocket launched from California: the sun shining through it long after its rays had moved west across Earth. I’m hoping tonight’s launch is just as eerily beautiful.

In related news, I was happy to hear NASA is planning at least one more service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, in my opinion one of the greatest scientific devices ever constructed.

Hertz Update

I called Hertz yesterday morning like I said I would. Instead of blasting the nice and professional representative about the errant charge, I politely told her the charge was in error. She then politely removed it from my bill and apologized for the inconvenience. She was wrapping up the call when I felt obligated to ask how this might happen.

“Oh, I’m sure it was some mistake,” she said. “We’ve taken care of it.”

“Well, doesn’t it seem a bit dishonest?” I challenged. “I mean, you charged me for something that wasn’t needed.”

She repeated her apology and to her credit sounded genuinely sorry. “Sir, I can’t tell you what happened because I’m in Oklahoma City and this happened in Chicago,” she said, a little flustered.

Fair enough, I thought, and I eased up on the hammers as John Wayne used to say. I told her I wasn’t upset with her, but I did want an address where I could write a letter. She and I ended our call peacefully and politely.

I then took a few minutes to dash off a letter to Hertz. It said that, in spite of the excellent treatment by Hertz’s customer service staff, I was still disappointed in the lack of integrity shown by the fraudulent charge added to my bill. In essense, the rep’s apology wasn’t enough of an apology for my taste.

Before I could put the letter in the envelope, I got a call back from Celeste, the wonderful agent I spoke with Friday. She told me she had tried to email me but she didn’t have access to the database with the email addresses. I gave her my address and then told her she didn’t need it since the previous rep had removed the charge.

So, at this point the charge has been removed. Now I’m waiting for a response to my letter to see if I’ll ever rent from Hertz again. If only their garage staff was as friendly and genuine as their customer service staff.

Stop The Presses!

I’m signed up for CNN’s “Breaking news” email alerts. This one made me chuckle:

Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 11:08:03 -0500
From: CNN Breaking News
Subject: CNN Breaking News
To: TEXTBREAKINGNEWS @ CNNIMAIL12.CNN.COM

— President Bush’s policy in Iraq “is not working,” the Iraq Study Group said in releasing its long-awaited report.

Gee … ya think? How much did we pay these clowns to come up with such earth-shattering conclusions?

A Plea For More Spam

I really don’t get enough spam. Please, can someone sign me up for some more lists? All my legitimate email is crowding out the ads for enlargement services, fake diplomas, and penny stocks.

Please, think of the spammers! Won’t someone stand up and protect the spammers?

N&O Playing Registration Games Again

Looks like Raleigh’s News and Observer is playing registration games again, locking its content up behind a paywall. Seems they don’t understand the value of the Internet after all. Now they’ll fade into obscurity on the Internet as other sites collect their now locked-out visitors.

Look for more links here on MT.Net to Capitol Broadcasting’s WRAL television website. Though WRAL’s site has been devastated by the Ugly virus, at least it doesn’t discriminate against its visitors.

Extreme Makeover: Extreme Shame

After watching the spectacle of ABC’s Extreme Makeover taking place in Raleigh, the head of Preservation North Carolina, Myrick Howard, questioned why anyone would tear down a beautiful historic bungalow to replace it with a slapped-together home made of cheap modern materials:

“I believe in charity, but if you really care about good housing, then renovate the existing house and it will cost so much less,” he said.

Howard added that the Riggins home was not only salvageable but made of better building materials than “Extreme Makeover” would use.

“We’re replacing real wood and plaster with chip board and sheet rock,” he said. “They’re getting showered with candy rather than a decent meal.”

Good point. It seems the family traded their fine home for 15 minutes of fame. Not only that, city officials dropped the ball by approving the demolition of an historic house in a historic district.

Would you live in a home that was built under a tight deadline of just one week? Do you think a team of volunteer laborers can do a better job in one week than the original, expert craftsmen did a hundred years ago using real building materials? This home stood proudly for the better part of a century. What are the odds that this slapped-together house will still be standing in 2106?

This is one of the things that ticks me off about Raleigh: total disregard for its own history. Tear down historic landmarks to make way for shiny new strip malls, or fake homes in this case. City officials who can’t wait to whore the city out for media opportunities no matter the long-term consequences. We live in a plastic city which has long ago lost its identity.

When the dust settles and the crowds of construction workers and gawkers have gone home, what will be left is yet another hole in the city’s historic heritage.

Cheap Thoughts: Cameras That Digitally Sign Photos

So now that photographs are essentially digital documents and can be digitally signed as such, why aren’t camera manufacturers making cameras which digitally sign the photos they take? The camera would have its own key and the photographer would have her own, too. Both keys would be used to sign the photo, proving that the photo came from that camera and was taken by that photographer. This would bolster the authenticity of a photograph in a world where the art of “photoshopping” can so easily fool people.

Let’s say you take that once-in-a-lifetime photo of Bigfoot, Elvis, Jimmy Hoffa, and Dick Cheney playing pick-up basketball. With the photo signed by the camera as well as you, your photographic proof becomes much more trustworthy. That lets you sell it for big bucks to the National Enquirer rather than settle for the Weekly World News.

Date and time info could be signed as well, though that would only prevent it from being changed as there’s no secure way to verify a clock’s time. No two people on the planet ever agree on what time it is, something no amount of technology will change!

(Bigfoot, by the way, would crush in basketball, even if he was double-teamed. Dunking presents no challenge when you’re 8 feet tall.)