I’ve been following the news reports of the search for the USS Grunion (SS-216), a sub that was sunk during World War II while patrolling off Kiska Island in Alaska. The blog and the photos are captivating.
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Woz’s next thing: energy efficient houses
Steve Wozniak, the legendary engineer who created the Apple computer, has now focused his considerable talent on creating more energy efficient houses.
Woz has always been a huge proponent of engineering efficiency. This drove him to design the Apple do some miraculous things with a mere handful of parts – a fraction of what competitiors used. Its no surprise then that he’s drawn to the clever tricks that can be used to heat and cool homes.
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Hanging up my hoses
That does it, I surrender. With the stage 1 water restrictions taking effect Tuesday and the thought of Falls Lake going dry in January, I can’t in good conscience pour thousands of gallons of city water onto my fescue lawn. From now on, whatever water it gets won’t be coming from the tap.
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What a day (and its not over yet)
The family got back earlier than expected today. Travis spent most of his day at Wakemed.
I still have to work today, which makes today a bit of a challenge. At least we’re all under one roof again!
One in Four Read No Books Last Year
Like my buddy Chris, I find this deeply troubling. I always have a book to read, though I don’t have as much time to read it as I’d like. I don’t think I’d ever have enough time to spend reading. I’d happily spend hours a day reading given the chance.
I picked this up from my mother, who unfailingly has a stack of thick books next to the couch at any point. Our kids have picked up the habit, too. They get an hour of storytime each day.
I know people today live active lives, but please! If you don’t have time for even one book, something’s majorly wrong.
Independence Hall – The Birthplace of Freedom
I finally got a chance to tour Independence Hall today. I arrived this rainy day after the regular tours were over, leaving me with just the “open house” tour that began at five. I bided my time by viewing the Liberty Bell, then progressing to Congress Hall, where the U.S. Congress met while Washington, DC was being built.
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Mainstream Media Sticks Foot in Mouth Again
In the same vein as my recent smackdown of the Independent comes news that another mainstream media pundit has no clue about the blogs and the Internet. Elon journalism professor and Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Skube apparently wrote an op-ed piece in the LA Times blasting blogs, yet freely admits he’s never read any. Josh Marshall and Greensboro’s Ed Cone called him out on it, with Ed having even done it once before.
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Croup!
Just found out that Travis has croup, which sucks (literally – ha!) but is preferable to pneumonia. I can ease my troubled mind a bit, though I wish I was with them to help out.
Too Far Away
I had a good day at work. I got done early and got a chance to tour neighboring Independence Hall. It even stopped raining here in Philadelphia. Then Kelly let me that Travis’s fever hasn’t broken all day and he is being taken by ambulance to the UVa emergency room.
I can think of nothing else right now. Dammit, I wish I wasn’t hundreds of miles away.
Cheap Thoughts: Acoustic Cooling?
If exciting molecules generates heat, would it not be possible to create cooling by somehow resonating those molecules, perhaps through the use of sound waves? If you could get air molecules lined up, for instance, using acoustical harmonics, would they not immediately drop in temperature as a result of their lessened interactions with each other? Even if only some molecules are harmonizing?
Its my understanding microwave ovens work similarly, only they add heat by exciting molecules. If a microwave was tuned to instead resonate those molecules, I would think it could be made to actually cool things, rather than heat them.
Ah, the things I don’t know and wish I did.