Posts from — September 2013

The BBC was impressed enough to report about a Empty F-16 jet tested by Boeing and US Air Force.

They converted an old, decommissioned F-16 into a QF-16 target drone that will be used for training down at Tyndall AFB in Panama City, Florida [about 60 miles East of me]. That is the same base that had to shut down US 98 for more than a day when a QF-4 crashed on take-off.

This isn’t unusual or special it is pretty standard and getting very easy as the ‘fly-by-wire’ aircraft become available for conversion. You want a tough job, consider that they created the QB-17, a four-engine bomber with all mechanical controls in the early 1950s.

The QF-16s will be more realistic targets than the QF-4s, and a decent aerial combat aircraft for people to hone their skills on, but the conversion is a standardized procedure.

More interesting is this piece in the CBC: Google Science Fair wins include B.C. teen’s body heat-powered flashlight.

She refers to Pelier tiles in her design, but this is a demonstration more of the Seebeck effect, and the reverse of what Peltier did. Very nice work from a high school sophomore.

It’s amazing how little is actually going on in the world outside of Nairobi.

Elections in Australia and Germany have produced unsurprising results, although they were both bad for the countries involved. Either the polling companies are getting their process down to a real science, or people are actually telling them the truth for a change.

The US House did the totally predictable thing in their push to claim a mandate they don’t have and will probably shut down the government and then go on to renege on US bonds because they think they run things. It makes me want to know how many House members are shorting T-Bills and stand to make a lot of money off the ultimate in insider trading schemes.

The guests are leaving tomorrow, so things will head back to normal, whatever that is.

“Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen.” [Where they burn books, in the end they will burn people.] Heinrich Heine

September 22 to 28 is Banned Books Week in the US, reminding us that there are some people who just can’t stand freedom for others.

I tolerate the publication of the works of Ayn Rand, so other people should be able to deal with Captain Underpants, the number one target for 2012.

Book banning really has nothing to do with the Left or the Right. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle was banned by the Nazis for promoting socialism and by the communist East Germans for opposing it. Censorship is about power and controlling the lives of other people using political or religious ideology as the excuse for doing it.

You can watch the arrival of the equinox at Archæoastronomy. It takes place at 3:44PM CDT [2044 UTC] this afternoon.

It’s time to man the rakes in northern climes while Spring arrives below the Equator.

The BBC reports that Venezuela seizes toilet paper factory to avoid shortage.

Apparently the country has been experiencing shortages that have required the importation of toilet paper and the government is suspicious about the reasons for the shortages. [BTW – did you know that the Koch brothers make toilet paper?]

I hope they can unclog the distribution system.

In Australia they are still counting votes. The ABC reports that Clive Palmer wins Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax by 36 votes, triggering recount:

Businessman Clive Palmer has finished just 36 votes ahead in the race for the federal seat of Fairfax, a result which will trigger an automatic recount.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) will conduct a recount because the margin is less than 100 votes.
…

Mr Palmer told the ABC’s PM program earlier this week that he had other concerns about the electoral process, particularly about ex-military officers involved in the process of counting votes.

“You’ve seen what’s happened in Egypt with a coup over,” he said.

“In a free democracy we don’t want military personnel in control of our election process. We are civilians and it should be a civilian election.

“It’s just too much of a coincidence you’ve got so many ex-military people acting as divisional directors in House of Representative seats.”

I don’t really see how denying former members of the military the right to participate in the process makes the system more democratic, but then I’m not obscenely wealthy like Mr. Palmer.

CC Unbound

Sigh …

[Editor: CC is relaxing in the shade dappled by sunshine. She has loosed the bounds of the rope when outside after proving that the only thing that would be on the end of the rope would the collar she slipped over her head. Her staff finally gave up.]

Friday Ark

[Note: The problem at the Ark seems to have been resolved as my shields did not go up when I visited today.]

The BBC noted this bit of ‘Cold Warrior’ absurdity: John McCain takes aim at Putin in Russian press.

First off, you need to be aware that the newspaper, Pravda, was the official paper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which made it a very important read when there was a Soviet Union. It is now the newspaper of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, which is a very minor party in Russian politics, and it is not read by anyone other than members of the Party. It is no longer available at news stands in Russia.

McCain didn’t even get his letter in the Pravda newspaper, it was published by Pravda.ru, a news site that is not affiliated with the newspaper or the Communist Party. [Note: Pravda means ‘Truth’, so it is generic.]

Pravda.ru is a nice enough site, but it doesn’t have a large audience when compared to Russia Today, and other competitors, so McCain’s letter at Pravda.ru definitely didn’t have the impact of Putin’s letter in the New York Times.

I would also note, that based on Russians in comments, and the opinions that were in Pravda.ru, the letter was a major failure. The Russians were insulted by McCain’s ‘Cold War rhetoric’ that was ’30 to 40 years out of date’.

My instinct tells me that the editor of Pravda.ru who solicited McCain’s letter, did so because McCain was known for his colorful opinions, the same reason he is constantly on the talk show circuit. John McCain is a known ‘entertainer’. People listen just to find out how off-the-wall he is going to get. Frankly, he is a running joke in American politics, and even editors of medium-sized Russian news sites know this.

Both are from the BBC:

1. Security holes unearthed in Apple’s iOS7 – the ever helpful Siri will put a locked iPhone in aircraft mode where it can’t be tracked, and you can still get all of the address information from a locked phone. The ‘fixes’ are promised in the next update.

2. RSA warns over NSA link to encryption algorithm – the random number generator in the RSA toolbox doesn’t actually generate random numbers, it generates a known sequence for NSA to use to break the encryption.

In a service note for iPhone purchasers – the new phones have the batteries glued in to make it really difficult to replace a bad battery. They want to sell you a new phone, not fix the one you own.

OT: Cat Blogging is obviously delayed by tour guiding.

Position: 33.6N 42.0W [ 4PM CDT 2100 UTC].
Movement: East [080°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph [ 55 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1006 mb ↑.

Currently about 895 miles [1435 km] West-Southwest of the Azores.

At 4PM CDT [2100 UTC] Humberto dissipated into a remnant low. This is the final NHC advisory.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

It’ll be double rations of grog all around in the galley as ye throw the pasta and pesto down your gullet for the final day of Pasta Week, on Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Arr…
Belay that! ‘T’would be better done by swilling lambrusco directly from the flask!
Arr…

Out-of-town guests, so I’m tied up hosting and driving.

Position: 32.5N 43.4W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [010°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph [ 55 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1009 mb ↑.

Currently about 1000 miles [1605 km] West-Southwest of the Azores.

The storm is poorly organized but still tropical.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Today is a no-time-off Federal holiday – Constitution Day. On this date in 1787 the constitutional convention ratified what became the Constitution of the United States.

This is also the second anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement using Zucotti Park to protest the crimes of Wall Street.

The treatment of the OWS movement is where Bashir al-Assad learned how to deal with protestors. Like the NYPD, he attacked and gassed them. [Note: tear gas is covered by the chemical weapons treaty, and is a military no-no.]

I guess the Bill of Rights will have to be renamed, because it looks like the Second Amendment is the only one still in force.

Position: 30.0N 43.3W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northwest [345°] near 7 mph [11 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 55 mph [ 90 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 140 miles [220 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1007 mb ↑.

Currently about 1050 miles [1695 km] West-Southwest of the Azores.

The Storm reorganized overnight with a new center further north.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]