Links to cool places or things.
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It seems I started a firestorm recently on the local Triangle Internetworkers (INW) mailing list. The INW list is the mailing list for local tech geeks where subject run the gamut.
One poster was looking for broadband options for his church. I suggested that it’d be great to have options, including municipal ones, and I linked to my prior post about the Local Government Fair Competition bill.
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My buddy rarousse alerts me to Weird Al Yankovic’s upcoming show in Raleigh August 5th. Alas, I can’t go, as we’ll still be in Washington state, wrapping up our vacation.
I was sixteen when I last saw Weird Al in concert. It was 1985 and I was working at Carowinds, where he and his band played at the Paladium. Al puts on a pretty good show: just the kind of kookiness you’d expect from him.
I see from the above link that Al is playing the Paladium again this tour. I wonder if he’ll look around and notice I’m not there?
When the kids see me at the computer, they like to ask to see a train video. Today I decided to find a video of a steam train. That’s when I found clips from the last steam run Norfolk Southern ever made: the Norfolk and Western 611 excursion train making its last run to its final resting place in Roanoke, Virginia in 1994. I wish I had known about it then.
Take a look at these clips on YouTube. Hear that steam whistle? Haunting, isn’t it? I can imagine what it must have been like in the 1950’s, lying awake on a rainy night and hearing that lonely whistle sounding across the dark landscape. That whistle has soul. No diesel’s air horn will ever sound like that.
The 611 was well-prepared for its retirement by its Norfolk Southern crews. It is now on display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation. Just last month it was rolled out of the roundhouse, still looking ready to go.
I’ve got to visit the 611 the next time I’m in Roanoke!
Every time I fire up Google Earth I marvel at how much fun it is to zoom around the Earth from the comfort of my easy chair. The other night, a friend sent a Google Maps link to India’s Alang shipyard: the place where supertankers and other ships go to die.
Zooming around the imagery of Alang, I spotted an aircraft carrier waiting to be dismantled. That lead to a Google search of its identity, revealing it to be the former British Royal Navy HMS Vengeance. While the story of Alang is fascinating in itself (and worth a read, or a look on Google Earth), I happily discovered a site that documents these Google Earth finds:
Intrepid Earth.
Intrepid Earth scours the world through Google Earth, bringing you the good stuff. As a former “spook,” I was pleased to see the all the military and defense-related images, such as Iran’s Bandar Abbas naval base or Russia’s behemoth Typhoon-class submarine. Intrepid Earth makes for a great tour guide.
MT.Net says check it out!
I’ve chosen a new theme for MT.Net: Random Image! It randomly rotates the photo on the banner, so it should keep things interesting.
I will soon stock it with my own photos. I hope to take some shots of Raleigh landmarks to add to the rotation but I have surprisingly few of those at the moment.
BoingBoing pointed out the secret deal where one can get DSL service from AT&T for $10/month.
BoingBoing’s Cory Doctorow says AT&T is evil and doesn’t deserve your business. I say that’s precisely the reason everyone should sign up. At $10/month, AT&T must surely lose money on every line. Therefore, sign up as many of your friends and family as you can!
The Consumerist: AT&T’s Secret $10 DSL
Bellsouth: Bellsouth FastAccess DSL Term Agreement Plans Available
When I thought I’d be taking the train north last week I decided I wanted to know where I was. Since I no longer have Windows on my laptop, my Microsoft Streets and Trips software wasn’t an option. That’s when I remembered a sweet Linux mapping application called Roadmap.
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My friend Kurt recently attended his submarine’s deactivation ceremony. The USS Minneapolis-St. Paul (SSN-708) was deactivated last month after two decades of service to the country. Seems like a short life for such a capable vessel. It made me wonder why we would scrap her.
Today I found an article describing USS Minneapolis-St. Paul’s likely fate: the scrapping process for nuclear submarines and ships. After decomissioning in September, she’ll be cut into sections, with most metal being recycled. The reactor’s final resting place will be the Hanford nuclear site in Washington state.
With the Navy scrapping perfectly good Spruance-class destroyers and nuclear subs, what does that leave? Are the remaining ships really all that?
A while ago Jeff turned me on to Fake Steve Jobs, the satirical blogger pretending to be Steve Jobs. If you’re not reading him yet, you’re really missing out.
And FSJ isn’t just about humor. One of his posts today totally summed up the threat iTunes presents to the music industry in a very concise way. I hadn’t seen this described so simply before.
Fake Steve Jobs might not be the real Steve Jobs but he’s brilliant, whomever he is.
My cousin Dave Turner loves his job with the Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission. His usual duties involve chasing down wandering gators and bears, believe it or not. Dave’s droll sense of humor usually earns him lots of airtime after the critter emergency is over.
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