Friday, June 29, 2007

Espresso Rules!

Here's a bit of coffee history from Turin, the birthplace of epresso.

In 1901 Luigi Bezzera, an engineer from Milan, created the first espresso machine which used steam to make coffee. But espresso as we know it was born in 1947 when Achille Gaggia, a bar owner in Milan, invented a way to brew coffee under pressure.

More importantly, the rules for making good espresso have been handed down from these coffee pioneers.

-- pressure in the machine should be kept at nine atmospheres.

-- water should be brought to 90-95 degrees Celsius (194-203 degrees Fahrenheit), not to a boiling point.

-- freshly ground coffee should be used within one day;

-- time of brewing a standard 30 ml (1.01 ounce) cup of espresso should be 25 to 30 seconds.

-- if it takes more time the coffee will have a burnt flavor and dark foam, and if it takes less time the coffee will be watery and will have a light weak foam.

-- an espresso cup should be warmed to 45C (113F) and should be made of special thick porcelain to prevent the coffee from getting cold too quickly and losing its specific aroma.

-- the cup should be shaped like a truncated cone to keep crema the best, and should be thicker at the bottom to keep the coffee warm longer.

-- the coffee should be drunk within two minutes after it was prepared or it starts losing its delicate bouquet. That is why bar counters have the best espresso and not fine restaurants where it will be served by a waiter.

-- crema is the best indicator of espresso quality: it should be of an even hazelnut color and be thick enough so that if sugar is added it should float on the surface for a few seconds before sinking. The crema then should close over the sugar after it drops to the bottom of a cup.

-- Another famous Italian coffee, cappuccino, is made by adding milk emulsion to espresso in a proportion of one unit of coffee to four units of milk which has been stirred by steam.

The "crema" is the thicker part of just brewed coffee that rises to the surface. Turkish coffee is generally agreed to have thickest crema. If you've ever wondered why espresso bars keep the coffee cups right on top of the machines, it's not just for convenience, but to preheat the cups, just like the rules say. And following the rules for good espresso is the main reason I only go to the coffee chains as a last resort, and then only order regular coffee or chai lattes. That's the espresso snob in me.

Suitable For All Ages

Online Dating

Heh. Even with the use of the word "murder" one time, I'm still G-rated. Just don't click on the videos. Those bobbing helmets sometime use a lot of naughty language.

iPhone Not All It's Cracked Up To Be

Well, the glass touch screen after you drop it, maybe. The iPhone debuts today, but wouldn't you know it, some people are already knocking it. A few of the reasons I already knew about, like all the Japanese cell phones that already do what the iPhone claims, but the two that stick out in my mind are:

6. You cannot remove its battery. Thanks for replicating one of the biggest complaints about the ipod, Apple!
13. No instant messaging.

The battery thing is pretty major, since most people like to do the trick of removing the battery and cleaning the contacts to get a little more juice out of it. This is probably why Apple said that they are releasing a battery that holds more charge than previously advertised. Well, Apple likes its designs to be consistent, and not making the product easy to open is always a design feature in the first version. But when that battery nears the end of its rechargeability, that phone is going to bulge out from the expansion, and may even blow up. Either way, look for complaints about the battery by this time next year.

The instant messaging problem caught my eye, but then I remembered that the whole iPhone internet interface runs off of Safari. All the other cell phone manufacturers have made agreements with the software companies to have stripped down versions of their IM's and browsers available for the phones, but Apple did not go that route. As far as I know, the only instant messaging service that works inside a browser is Google Chat, but I don't know if that will work for the iPhone.

Oh well. Apple will have a lot of these problems ironed out in the next few months. They're already manufacturing the next batch of phones with a scratch resistant plastic for the touch screen. Oh, but have fun security patching Safari now that those phones will become a tasty target for phishing exploits.

Helmety Fireworks Safety

Independence Day is next week, which means it's the time to celebrate our nation's birth. However we have a few ways of celebrating that don't seem all that related to the holiday. Like seeing some big huge special effects movie, barbecuing meat and drinking beer, but most of all, enjoying fireworks. Many people like going to parks to watch the big professional shows, but a lot of people, especially kids, still like taking their chances with homegrown mutilation and disfigurement. With the latter group in mind, the crew from Red vs. Blue offers the following tips for your safety. Just remember not to confuse those burgers for alien sparkling grenades!



"Kickass! I've still got three fingers left from last year!"

Thursday, June 28, 2007

House Cats Came From The Middle East

A new study comparing the mitochondrial DNA of house cats and five wild cats has shown strong evidence that the interbreeding of these wild cats in the Middle East produced the modern domesticated house cat, about 100,000 years ago. I like how the researchers describe these wild cats as "ferocious" and that the domestication was a big step. Of course, now that the cat has been domesticated, we can further embarrass them. Will our furry companions stay our friends on Earth, and beyond? I think so.



Helmety Bummed Out

The dudes at Rooster Teeth have been hinting at it for months, that the 100th episode of Red vs. Blue would be the last. Judging from the cast members' journals and other communications, they are indeed moving on. Is it because Halo 3 doesn't have a box canyon map? Maybe the new game engine doesn't allow for certain special effects that could make production much more difficult? Or perhaps the principle voices, who are the founders of the production company, want to concentrate on the commercial side of the business, without having to worry about scheduling time for the actual production? I don't know. They have another show they are currently producing, but the game engine has gotten bad reviews, so I don't know how popular it will be. They've also shot several commercials for advertisers, specifically for the Madden series of football games. Maybe, I just don't believe them, because they've done this kind of thing in the past.



"Wrong! That wasn't Simmons. It was old man Caboose!"

If it really is true, I want to thank the Rooster Teeth crew for all their hard work, funny writing, and brilliant voice acting. Also, appreciation goes for introducing great characters, such as Caboose and Sarge, and phrases that have colored the geek community. Phrases like "Blargh!", "cockbite," "Camping is a legitimate strategy!", and pretty much everything that Sarge has ever said to insult his team. I hope Red vs. Blue will come back, probably not with the same characters, but the ending really does bring the show full circle. If you have the chance, take a look at the last episode, but only pay attention to the last 3 minutes. Then take a look at the first episode ever. Very fitting. Now I have to find another bunch of bobbing helmets to help me with Helmety Goodness Fridays.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Olympics Weather Forecasting

The pollution in Beijing is so bad, that weather forecasts during the Olympics will include "pollution days." In Los Angeles County, we used to have smog alerts, when the air quality was so "unhealthful" that kids weren't even allowed outside for recess or lunch. Imagine playing Heads Up Seven Up in a sunny classroom, and that's how bad smog levels were in the 1980's. Will we see "pollution delays" during the 2008 Olympics, like other weather delays? That certainly looks like the case.

Colonel Sanders Was A Mean Drunk

The recently departed Bob Evans, the founder of the Bob Evans chain of restaurants, recalled his days of travelling with Colonel Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's, looking for "recipes to yank."

"Colonel Sanders liked the waitresses and he liked to drink," said Bob Evans. "He'd pick fights with the biggest guy in the restaurant. Sometimes, Dave and I had to drag him out of those places. He wanted to fight everybody."

Bob Evan's restaurants never made it out to California, but Mimi's Cafe, his other chain, did. It's fun to know that these franchises had simple beginnings, and that the three founders of some of the largest retail food companies in the industry started out as friends and rivals.

"Hairy like a man, I said."

When I first read this story about a woman picking up a lost dog, and then being arrested for theft, by the dog's owner, I thought there had to be a misunderstanding. But I picked up on certain details which raised one eyebrow archly. Forget all that stuff about the woman being employed by PETA and the arresting officer owning several hunting dogs. Both people can spin their encounter which led to the woman's arrest. The important detail is how a passing motorist witnessed the woman putting the dog in her van, and felt that the manner in which that occurred, was suspicious enough to report it as a theft to the sheriff's department. I'd like to know what this suspicious behavior was. Also, I'd like to know how long the woman was holding the dog in the van before the deputy sheriff stopped her. Because of the suspicious nature of the dog's initial "rescue," all sorts of questions about what this woman was doing for PETA begin to form in my mind. However, I hope the tipster wasn't just calling in a bigfoot sighting.


Get Fuzzy courtesy of Darby Conley

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Customers Will Droolz...

And Bloomberg's Nanny State Don't Rulez. I say good. Many restaurants in NYC have already been providing nutritional content for customers who inquire, but the rule that the health board passed last year is laughable, ridiculous, and is symptomatic of bureaucrats who live in fantasy lands. Who thought that publishing caloric content in the same size type as the food price on menus would ever work? Menus that used to be 4 pages will become little magazines, because it's not just putting the calorie number next to the price that the regulation mandates. It's putting the calories of a burger with pickles. Or a burger with pickles and mustard. Or a burger with pickles and ketchup, but no mustard. Or a cheeseburger with onions. Or cheeseburger with onions, barbecue sauce, and pickles. Do you begin to see the problem that fast food chains will have? They need a spreadsheet to put all that info together, which is why they have those big posters with rule lines and dots all over them. Or better yet, online.

Of course, the AP has to quote an advocacy group spokesman who hates fast food restaurants. For balance, right? The story also mentions how many calories are in a burger, but how much is that "healthy" salad at McDonalds? The Southwest Salad with Crispy Chicken runs you 400 calories. You better be just drinking a diet soda.

Tiger Poachers Fear The Bite

Now this is the proper way to have Nature work for you:
Crocodiles scare tiger poachers in India

This is a bit like building a moat for your nature preserve. Also, tigers are most vulnerable to attack by poachers when they come to a water source for drinking or swimming, so the poachers will have to work harder and out in the open. Hopefully, the guards can make more arrests, as long as they don't keep succumbing to bribery.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Hurricanes Cause Teen Smoking

Ridiculous. Researchers were paid by a Texas state institution to confirm that the trauma of moving, losing loved ones, and losing your house causes stress. Um, I think we knew that already. Next, they'll claim that Bush caused Hurricane Katrina as a favor to his tobacco cronies. Who approves these studies? Honestly, this is a waste of resources by the University of Texas Health Science Center.

Auction Site To Sell On Auction Site

That makes sense to me: Auction site selling itself on eBay.

Jaw Crippling Injury!

Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi, the world champion hot dog eater, has developed "eater's jaw." Well, I don't know if that's a sports injury that will get its own name like tennis elbow, but it's similar, because both conditions stem from joint arthritis. Plenty of rest is the prescription, and months of sipping smoothies with a straw lie in Takeru's future.

Fallout Begins For Journalistic Integrity

After MSNBC named 143 journalists who have donated to political causes and candidates, mainly liberal or left-leaning by a 9 to 1 margin, three of those journalists have already lost their contracts or jobs. The news organizations doing the firing and dismissals stress "guarding the newspaper's trust with readers." The Lincoln Journal Star, whose editor made the comments about trust in an editorial, also let it be known that one of its other employees was only reprimanded, but another, a cartoonist, was fired because of his very telling reaction: "Frankly, I don't give a rat's ass what the Lincoln Journal Star or their parent organization, Lee Enterprises, policies are on allowing newsroom staff to give to candidates and parties."

When one of the missions of the traditional media has been to expose hypocrisy and conflicts of interest, it is only right and fair to turn that scrutiny on themselves. Will a new witch hunt begin in America's newsrooms? A part of me would welcome that, but I also don't think that would be proper. What will the new guidelines be? Is it a conflict of interest if the science beat reporter donates money to a certain candidate? It could be, if the gift is in the context of the politician supporting funding lines of research. What about sports writers who like to insert political digs into their columns? Is there much of a conflict of interest when one is reporting on curveballs, but like to make jokes about the vice president, but that one donated to MoveOn.org? Obviously, each person's case has to be handled on an individual basis. But after the punitive process, new policies have to be enforced of no political gifts to candidates, PAC's, or the murky 527 groups. As has been noted in many places before, even if one can separate biases from reporting, it's the appearance of impropriety that matters, because that is what erodes readers' trust.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Oh That Sexy Biker Tan!

You know you spend too much time in the sun when you worry about the patterns your tan will have. I changed glove styles because I got sick of the "hole" left on the top of my hand. Apparently, Frazz no longer cares.


Frazz courtesy of Jef Mallett

The funny bits are waving to the trucker (trucker tan) and passing by a farm (farmer tan). But biker tan is like having a farmer tan on your legs too. If you want a good example of what all day in the sun can do for you, click here to see my biker buddy Sebastian after last year's Tour de Palm Springs.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

I Agree With A Los Angeles Times Media Critic

I know. I'm as shocked as my regular readers should be. But Tim Rutten, in only the second time I've ever agreed with him on anything, excoriates the Western media editorial pages for not defending Salman Rushdie's knighthood. I actually can't remember what the first thing was which I agreed with him, so traumatic that was, but I believe it was the blasé attitude most papers have in covering the 9/11 truther movement and not tamping down those little sparks of conspiracy theories. Defenders of truth and public record, right? Today, though, Tim Rutten writes about his amazement at the lack of coverage of radical muslims, and how he had to find statements decrying renewed calls for fatwas against Rushdie online, even having to quote the right-leaning Pajamas Media. Not only that, Rutten diagnoses exactly what is wrong with most newsrooms today:

What masquerades as tolerance and cultural sensitivity among many U.S. journalists is really a kind of soft bigotry, an unspoken assumption that Muslim societies will naturally repress great writers and murder honest journalists, and that to insist otherwise is somehow intolerant or insensitive.

Lost in the self-righteous haze that masks this expedient sentiment is a critical point once made by the late American philosopher Richard Rorty, who was fond of pointing out that "some ideas, like some people, are just no damn good" and that no amount of faux tolerance or misplaced fellow feeling excuses the rest of us from our obligation to oppose such ideas and such people.

Some ideas are just no damn good. Political correctness, cultural diversity, sensitivity training, tolerance, multiculturalism, and most post-modern schools of literary thought would have you believe otherwise, but the truth remains: Some ideas are just no damn good, and we should not be afraid to say so.

Update: Welcome Instapundit readers to my little spot in the blogosphere. Have a look around and thanks for visiting!

Friday, June 22, 2007

New Monk Hooch!

Yessir! That's half a case of trappist wine right there! Two New Zinfandels, two Syrahs, an Albariño, and a brand new label called Red Table Wine.

And there's my crappy camera at work trying to capture the label. Well, bottles are round after all. This new wine was corked the day before our bro time visit, so it's not even available (or listed) online. You can call and request it, though. It's a blend of several of their reds with a fruity finish.

Weekly Web Video Fix

According to a new report by a media consulting firm, more than half of Americans watch some kind of online video at least once a week. I definitely fall into the category of young males who watch video off the internet daily. In fact, the televisions shows I "tune in" to watch weekly are downloaded off the internet after the subtitles have been put in. These days, I depend on the internet more for my media pursuits than I do television, radio, or newspapers and magazines. Also, I like to feel like I'm contributing to the web video habit by hosting Helmety Goodness Fridays. So, relax, and enjoy the found weirdness in a virtual world, all set to a kicky 8-bit beat.



"Do you like glitch-glitch-glitch glitches?"

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Story on Strategy, Without the Strategy

Some of the things I like to point out on this blog are poorly written science stories. I know that the poor little journalists try so hard, but they could try so much harder. The latest story to frustrate me comes from the AP, writing on something that is definitely buzzworthy: drug-resistant tuberculosis. So, the World Health Organization announced they have come up with a "two-year strategy to stop the growing problem of drug-resistant tuberculosis," but the AP medical writer just plum forgot to tell us what it is. First, we have the lead sentence and the concern:
LONDON (AP) -- More than 130,000 lives could be saved if the world implements a two-year strategy to stop the growing problem of drug-resistant tuberculosis, the World Health Organization and partners said Thursday.

Officials are concerned that the current epidemic of curable TB might evolve into a drug-resistant variety immune to existing medicines.

Oh good, we need to have a global plan, because I think this hand sanitizer business is getting out of hand. So, what's the plan?
"It would be very scary if that happened," said Dr. Ruth McNerney, an infectious diseases expert at London's School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "Tuberculosis would then turn into what it was centuries ago when it was Europe's biggest killer and wiped out generations of people."

Okay. Yes, disease can be scary, especially an airborne infectious disease like TB. Wouldn't want people coughing up blood and wasting away from consumption. Soooo, what's the strategy?
The new plan from WHO and the Stop TB Partnership outlines actions they say are needed to slow the spread of multi-drug resistant TB and extensively drug-resistant TB, or XDR-TB.

Did you miss it? Because this sentence is the last time in the story there is a description of the plan. The rest of the story is just alternating scary ancecdotes with how much money another international body needs. Do you need to see it again? Here it is: The new plan from WHO and the Stop TB Partnership outlines actions.
That's it. Actions. Oh, don't forget, those poor Asian countries need 2.15 billion dollars to tackle issues including disease surveillance, diagnosis and treatment. So there you have it. A 2.15 billion dollar, two year long strategy to combat drug resistant tuberculosis, consists of "actions" to "tackle issues" in "poor countries." Please make checks out to WHO.

The Oldest Rulez, Younger Sibling Droolz

In a bit of bad news for the bro, a new study indicates that the oldest child has the higher IQ. I really don't put much stock in IQ tests, but I love pointing them out. What's particularly interesting about this new study is that it is the role of the eldest that matters, not any actual birth order. Being of multiple birth, these studies are also intriguing with how other researchers try to interpret the results, and how they don't apply to me: "The older child benefits by having to organize and express its thoughts to tutor youngsters, [Frank J. Sulloway] said, while the later born children may have no one to tutor."

My family always treated me as the eldest, the bro definitely had middle child syndrome growing up, and the brother the Brother was absolutely the baby of the family, even though all of us were only separated by 10 minutes of child birth. The bro and I were more like twins than anything else, and I never tutored him in anything. Well, maybe a little calculus, once, but that's it. This story reminds me of treating astrological signs as personality types and associating them with birthdates. Again, those kinds of things don't apply to my multiple birth experience. But then, I'm a Scorpio, and all Scorpios think that astrology is a bunch of Taurus.

Bad News: Republicans Keep Gas Prices Low

Senate Republicans were able to quash the provisions in the new energy bill that would have raised gasoline prices. Of course, this gets reported as bad news by H. Josef Hebert:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a $32 billion package of tax breaks for renewable energy that would have been financed mostly by new taxes on major oil companies.

See? Those Rethuglikkkans didn't keep gas price low, they stole 32 billion dollars away from renewable energy and gave it back to Big Oil. The tax hike would have been a money grab from successful companies which then would have passed those costs onto consumers. Democrats, like Jeff Bingaman, don't seem to understand that, and reveal their true intentions: wealth redistribution.

The bill's supporters dismissed suggestions that the new taxes on an industry that has had record profits in recent years would cause either less oil production or lead to higher prices at the pump.

Oil companies earned $111 billion in profits last year and at that rate stand to earn $1 trillion over the 10 years covered by the tax package, said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., rejecting suggestions that "this is an undue burden" on oil companies.

I guess he never had to read his own phone bill, which lists just how many taxes have been passed on to you by your local telecom. Can you imagine how long your receipt would be if federal law required gas companies to list all the taxes they've passed on to you at the pump? I don't even want to think about it. But that doesn't matter to the socialists in the energy policy debate. In their minds, what matters is that rich people, and companies, can afford those taxes. And if those costs get passed on to you, well, you really shouldn't be driving that much, should you Gaia raper? And reporters think it's big news that poll approval numbers for Congress are lower than the President's...

The Weirdest Beers

Oddee.com provides a list of the ten most bizarre beers. I've actually read most of the stories as they were published in the last year, and even wrote about one, but the number 1 most bizarre beer makes me very curious. 25% alcohol beer, by Samuel Adams no less! Wow. I've had barley wine at 12%, and that's quite a kick from a malty beverage. The first chance I get, I'm taking a tipple of the Utopias. Pizza beer, alas, will never touch my taste buds...

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

China Now The Biggest Belcher

According to a dutch think tank, China has already surpassed the U.S. as the leading emitter of carbon dioxide. This is only surprising that it happened already, since most academics and other agencies predicted the change in top spots to happen by 2009 at the earliest. Bearing that in mind, it's not surprising at the amount of weasel words used in the story:

  • based on the latest widely accepted energy consumption data
  • The group's analysis makes sense and had been predicted to happen by 2009 or 2010, said experts from the United Nations and the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and outside academics.
  • the analysis was done using methods and data that "are the best currently available."
  • Earlier figures indicated China would likely surpass the U.S. in greenhouse gas emissions as early as 2009, although other predictions said it could happen this year.
  • We have no reason to doubt that the numbers are right. We have no reason to doubt the methodology.

This is bad news for most warming alarmists who want to harm the United States' economy, and currently have no leverage on communist China. So, the stress now moves away from current emissions to past emissions.

But the issue isn't just current emissions, but carbon dioxide stuck in the atmosphere, where it lingers for about a century trapping heat below, said Jay Apt, a professor of engineering, business and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Apt and a colleague calculated the share of carbon dioxide now in the atmosphere that can be attributed to each country and determined that the United States is responsible for 27 percent, European nations contributed 20 percent and China only 8 percent.

"The planet does not respond to emissions, the planet responds to the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," said Apt. "It means the U.S. will have the lion's share of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for the foreseeable future. In fact, even if China's exponential growth continues, China will not surpass the U.S. in the numbers of carbon dioxide atoms in the atmosphere, that is concentration, until at least 2050, which is too late to start anything."

Of course, this is CO2 which is already in the atmosphere, where no amount of emissions trading, offset purchases, and shuttering coal-fired power plants will remove it. The important thing is that the US is still the number one bad guy! Whew! Greens can stay on that message for at least another 40 years. No need to hamper fellow communists, er, uh, we mean developing countries like China.

Dogbert's Green Gameplan

Dilbert courtesy of Scott Adams

Dogbert, the green consultant, continues to inform.

Rats Gone Blotto

Rodents have found a new source for their alcohol fix: police evidence lockers in India. How desperate are these rats they'll gnaw straight through aluminum to get to that sweet, sweet liquor? The funnier part is how rats in the same vicinity are nibbling on the toes of passersby, but the cops don't know if there were NUI's in progress. Uh, that's Nibbling Under the Influence...

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Golfer's Stroke On Fire!

Literally. Talk about trying to spark some momentum!

In Not So Many Words

Dogbert explains environmentalism's behavior modification protocols to businesses which want to capitalize on people's misconceptions. He seems to have everything covered, right down to the neo-religious guilt.


Dilbert courtesy of Scott Adams

Update: Case in point, Google announces carbon-neutral plan by purchasing carbon offsets. Remember when money used to go to the Red Cross to present a more sympathetic face to the public? At least they actually do something worthwhile with your donations (and blood!) than oily carbon offset companies.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Something In Your Eye?

If you don't want to be called "Old Blinky," drink two cups of coffee a day.

Hollywood Officially Out Of Ideas

Ridley Scott to direct movie based on Monopoly boardgame. No word yet whether the movie will be financed using real money...

via Ace.

Ninja Poetry Slice!

Now, I've never been to a ninja poetry slice, but I imagine that the front row has to put on a splash guard like they do for Gallagher. Except, instead of vegetables, the ninjas actually battle the forces of darkness, with their rhymes! One can only wonder at the ick factor during the performance of this ninja childhood favorite:

Silly Sarah was a zombie
Wacky, wild, weird, and wombie
She loved walking
She loved rain
She loved groaning
She loved braaaiiins!

Poetry slice organizers should at least announce if they're going to include that particular poem, just so audience members can get their zombie plans in order. But whichever hairy tentacled monster meets its gory end onstage, don't forget your berets!


"Ninjas do not act against mankind! Sean Penn, he acts against mankind."

Everything You Wanted To Know About What's Wrong With The IPCC...

...but didn't know where to start. At least, that's how I would have titled the Kevin E. Trenberth's blog entry at Nature that Roger Pielke Sr. is highlighting. Professor Pielke gives us the summary with the top 5 quotes from post:

1. “In fact there are no predictions by IPCC at all. And there never have been.”

2. “None of the models used by IPCC are initialized to the observed state and none of the climate states in the models correspond even remotely to the current observed climate.”

3. “Moreover, the starting climate state in several of the models may depart significantly from the real climate owing to model errors. I postulate that regional climate change is impossible to deal with properly unless the models are initialized.”

4. “The current projection method works to the extent it does because it utilizes differences from one time to another and the main model bias and systematic errors are thereby subtracted out. This assumes linearity. It works for global forced variations, but it can not work for many aspects of climate, especially those related to the water cycle.”

5. “However, the science is not done because we do not have reliable or regional predictions of climate.”

Prof. Pielke likes the bits about regional climate effects, since that is his main concern regarding the incompleteness of GCM's, and the overemphasis of greenhouse gases as a climate forcing in particular. I like the parts explaining how the climate models the IPCC uses do not describe current observations and merely offer "what-if" scenarios. I've said many times before that the climate models are tools for sharpening theories and hypothesis, which scientists should then go and find the observations that prove or disprove the model's projections. Using them to affect energy policy change, as opposed to climate change, is not science, but the worst sort of demagoguery. Hopefully more and more scientists will find their voices within the scientific community, so that advocates will no longer mistake silence for "consensus."

Friday, June 15, 2007

Ivan Basso Suspended Two Years

This should have happened last year. At least he didn't ride the Tour de France, since the "attempted doping" would have been just "plain ol' doping," and he probably would have won too. Would the Landis circus still have gone on? I doubt it, since he would not have been tested as many times as he was.

Meet The New Kilogram

Trying to define the new standard kilogram by measuring the molar mass of silicon is a good idea, since the original definition, in terms of one thousand cubic centimeters of distilled water at atmospheric pressure, had way too many conditions placed on it.


REUTERS/Mick Tsikas

I would have liked to have seen a comparative paragraph thrown in on how the standard definition of the meter has changed from the original ten millionth of the distance from Earth's equator to the North Pole running through Paris, to the current distance that light travels in a certain fraction of a second. Of course, that's time measured in Earth's gravitational field, so general relativitistic corrections will have to be made at some point, when we can actually measure the small time dilation, but I guess it's good enough for now. Still, knowing that a standard kilogram is defined by two large silicon balls, heh, that's brings a smile to my face.

Stalactite? Stalactite!

Over the last few weeks, you may have noticed that a ten year old recurring character has been appearing here on Helmety Goodness Fridays. From a simple cameo, to running riot, to even requesting more chocolate milk while he headshots much older players, we've seen his skills in action. Yes, I'm referring to MrPoopyDooDoo, the Halo prodigy mucking up TSL's film productions. We've seen his skills, but what made him a legend, to be feared as soon as he joins an online game? Watch, as he interrupts an interview, in his unique double-killing style.



"What is he doing up there?"

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Home and Catching Up

The trip back had a little less drama than the trip out, but when we got to the monastery, it was time to sit back, relax in the shade, and make fun of the tadpoles in Deer Creek.


Heh. Stupid tadpoles.
"Huh? Oh yeah. Picture time."

I have a lot of media to catch up on, so the blogging will also slowly get caught up. Thanks go to my readers for the well wishes.

Update: Another perspective on the picture above is over at the bro's blog.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Light Blogging Ahead

And also periods of interneticus interruptus. Why? I'm going to be paying a visit to these lazy guys.



They happen to live in this nice little fountain over here:



Oh, and if I have a few moments, I just might spend some quality time with these two guys.



See you guys next week!

Pay The Helmety Bills

Even in a virtual world, performers have to work odd jobs to make ends meet. That's even true of the Solid Gold Elite Dancers, where they have to work as parking attendants on their off-shifts. Sometimes though, frustration can get to the best of people. But for artists, frustration can be inspiration. This is how Michael Jackson should have beat up that car: with shotguns and plasma rifles!



"Da. Vuht about our, how dey say, sveet vehicle?"

Bonus points: MrPoopyDooDoo, the killtacular 10 year old, makes a cameo appearance.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Film Ninjoir?

I didn't know that there was a genre of ninja films employing gritty street dialogue, monochrome film, and octocentipuses.



"Enough to make me throw a couple extra shurikens in the old jacket."

Cistercian Nuns Drink Beer...

"...for the good of humanity", not for themselves. The hops in the beer appear to be linked to a drop in cholesterol levels. The study did not produce any new beer fans: "To be honest, if I needed it to reduce cholesterol or whatever I'd continue to drink it, but I wouldn't just drink beer (for itself) because I don't like it," Sister Maria Jose told Spanish state television RTVE. A pint of beer a day? I'll take your portion, Sister.

Laptops In The Pink

With how Japanese girls and women decorate their cell phones, it only makes sense for laptop manufacturers to break into that market. I see one problem with the product itself (nevermind that it's pink and has Hello Kitty plastered all over it). Most laptop surfaces have to be sleek so that they can easily slip into and out of cushioned laptop bags, so the crystal encrusted design might hit some snags. Heh. Otherwise, kawaii!! (cute!!)



Robert Gilhooly / EPA

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Beijing Still Struggling With Chinglish

The Chinese have decided to scrap "water closet" and just use "toilet." I love how the stuffy Brit Reuters reporter adds a little bit of his own Victorian charm:

"Because in English, it's equivalent to what we would call in China an outhouse, and is a rather crude slang term," it added, without explaining how it had got this impression. [emph. added]

I'm also glad to see that the garlic mud continues to impress.

And You Thought Pixie Sticks Were Bad

Bad idea. Very bad idea: Powdered alcohol sold to minors.

More Mac vs. PC Red Meat


"Hey, wanna play Minesweeper?"

I just read an interesting article that the patch model for security that Microsoft employs, and that Apple is beginning to adopt, actually encourages virus and malware hackers to write more exploits for those patched vulnerabilities. There are those who think that Macs will always be more secure than PC's running Windows, but those opinions don't take into account the vast user base of Windows machines. Is a Lamborghini Murcielago any more secure than a Honda Civic? No, but the most stolen car in America got that title by having the most volume. The first article I linked to stresses the most important point in all the security issues debates between Mac Lusers, PC Abusers, and even Linux Reclusers: the virus writers go after sheer numbers. In David Morgenstern's piece, he talks about how vulnerable the Mac platform should be, because of how homogeneous the platform is among its users. I'll just add that the homogeneity comes from a lack of software market. Do you really expect there to be a choice between a baguette or a sourdough loaf at the end of the breadline? Anyway, as Macs become more popular, jokes like all the ones I made above will mean less, and the anti-virus software market can only lick its teeth in anticipation. But until that happens, bring on the comedy!

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

London's New Olympic Logo Is So Bad

How bad is it? London's Olympic logo is so bad, it's giving people fits. Literally. The Olympic committee has already had to stop showing some commercials after 10 epileptics have had seizures from watching them. Another ringing endorsement for the logo that has received so much unfavorable response already.

Robot Suffers From Bush Derangement Syndrome

Reuters can't wait to make digs at President Bush, even in a story about robotic facial expressions. The robotics researchers say they are pulling info from an online database that associates the word "president" with "Bush," "Iraq," and "war," which makes the robotic face emulate fear and disgust. It seems to me that the Japanese need a new database, other than Google News and Yahoo News.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Caffeine Key Chain

I found this coffee related item just in time for Fathers' Day. Well, at least that's how the company is marketing it. Click on the image for a blurb on the product. It appears to be available only in the Old World, though. I don't know how comfortable that caffeine molecule would be in a pants pocket, or how quickly one would have hol(e)y pants. A rethink on the product concept for key chain may be in order.

South African Witchdoctors: AIDS Vector

In a health story that reads more like a personal interest story, I picked up a new bit of information on how traditional healers in South Africa are physically responsible for the spread of AIDS, instead of just the usual cultural divide anecdotes that are spread around: unsanitary cutting practices.

The training helped [Miriam Tembe] with the practice of scarring a patient then rubbing herbs or powder into the wound: "I used to use one razor for five people -- I used to kill people," she added.

I used to think that scaring people about condom use and encouraging the practice of raping virgins was bad enough, but these witchdoctors were actively spreading a blood-borne disease. The education program the Reuters story describes should have started many years ago.

Accurate Headline, Misleading Lede

In a reversal of most science-related stories from the AP, we have an accurate statement in the headline, but calculated spin in the lead sentence:

US Cutting Back Efforts to Monitor Global Warming With Satellite System

By JOHN HEILPRIN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. scientists will soon lose much of their ability in space to monitor for global warming, a confidential report to the White House warns.

The lede reads like a partisan statement about the opposition's plan to increase spending, when they're actually proposing a plan that cuts spending at a slower, or lower, rate. Here, we had a plan to put 6 satellites in orbit, but are now cutting the number to 4, because the old plan now costs twice as much as the original budget. But the lede makes it sound like the Bush Administration is shooting satellites out of the sky, because it doesn't want those pesky scientists to discover the "truth" about those melting ice caps. John Heilprin needs to get some tips from the writers on the political beat. Calling the authors of the confidential memo "U.S. scientists" doesn't add that extra sauce of the administration not listening to agency heads who care more about prophetic doom than job security. However, brownie points awarded for laying the decision at the feet of the Defense Department, instead of NASA and NOAA chiefs who were also involved. Keep practicing! Remember, that "truth to power" narrative works extremely well for those "censored" scientists who somehow show up quoted in all your articles.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Nielsen: DVRs Cause Lower Ratings

Duh. The old model of tracking viewers during certain times to watch shows seems to be on the way out. Also, the story mentions the Winter Olympics as causing an overall viewer increase last year. Excuse me while I snort. I think the second most important reason buried in the story is the number of repeats compared to last spring. They don't mention it's because almost all the new shows introduced last fall have been cancelled. Even shows premiering this spring were cancelled after three episodes (Drive, I'm looking in your direction). So, don't give DVR's all the blame. Fault the media execs for not giving new shows a chance to build fans, for playing musical time slots with longer running shows, and snorting the crack known as reality television. If you give viewers inferior product, they'll find something better, on subscriber networks, on rental shelves, or online. My advice for advertisers: buy blocks of TV time so your logo shows up inobtrusively during the show, like on live sporting events. That's how you can get around people wanting to watch shows on their own schedule who fastforward through the commercials.

Killtacular Ten Year Olds

As I've gotten older, I've realized that I'm no longer good at the games I used to love. I loved flight simulators. I loved blowing stuff out of the sky, out of space, underwater, in the bellies of volcanoes, everywhere. But eventually, the games became too responsive, because the computers became better. When the first FPS's (first person shooter) came out, I had no trouble keeping up with Castle Wolfenstein and Dark Forces. But the twitch muscles began to betray me, and my eyes began to tire easily from the forced perspective. By the time Halo came out, it was all over. I didn't mind shooting my friends over networked Xboxes, because we were all the same age, and had pretty much the same suckage. But you would never ever entice me to play Halo online, because I never wanted to suffer the humiliation of getting pwn3d by some 10 year old, using my death as a stepping stone to receiving the "Un-freakin-believable" honor. What does that look like? Ask the poor schlubs in the video below.



"No! You said you were gonna go get me some chocolate milk!"