30 Apr 2009
Churchgoers more likely to back torture

I suppose I shouldn't be that shocked: this is the religion of the Inquisition, after all. But still, one wonders how some of the faithful reconcile their political position with the teachings of their "Prince of Peace"... without gagging.

The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new analysis.

(link) [CNN.com]

21:39 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link

28 Apr 2009
For your health, pick a mate who is conscientious and, perhaps, also neurotic

If this is in fact the truth, my darling wife should live to be at least 100...

Conscientiousness is a good thing in a mate, researchers report, not just because it's easier to live with someone who washes the dishes without being asked, but also because having a conscientious partner may actually be good for one's health. Their study, of adults over age 50, also found that women, but not men, get an added health benefit when paired with someone who is conscientious and neurotic.

(link) [EurekAlert!]

19:52 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

27 Apr 2009
Nine Down Four To Go

A special event: Shearing Day One for 2009 was yesterday. And in a breach of custom from past years, we hired a shearer to come in an do the job for us! Well, most of the job anyway - I still had to trim hooves and give general assistance. But it was a damn sight easier than trying to do it all ourselves. I built Lorraine a big (8 x 4 ft) skirting table, and she was very pleased with the results.

The shearer, Stuart Ballantyne, had previously sheared the 3 Blackies we had over a Connor Prairie this year. He has his own page up - his main interest in our gals was in the ram's horns I had for sale. He uses them to create walking sticks and truely does some beautiful work.

We did get some pictures, and I'll try to get them up soon. And thanks to the failure of some of his clippers, Stuart will be making a return trip to get the last four. Will update then.

07:11 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

Food safety bill critics: Small farms could lose

Be afraid ... be very afraid.

A slew of food safety bills working their way through Congress have some Internet bloggers up in arms, warning that the bills could mean the end of backyard gardening and organic farms.

(link) [Farm World]

via Overlawyered

06:58 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

26 Apr 2009
Windows 7 To Include XP

Good grief! Did somebody at M$ grow a brain? Certainly it's a step in the right direction, but I gotta think that it's gonna be really, really fun for guys like me to insure that our shipping software runs in such an environment...

Paul Thurrott's WinSuperSite reports that Windows 7 will include a built-in virtual machine with a fully licensed copy of Windows XP Professional SP3. The VM runs in a modified version of Virtual PC, and applications running in the VM can interact directly with the host operating system as if they were running on the Windows 7 installation itself. While details are scarce for now, it looks as if this feature will only be available as a (free) addon for Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Windows 7. Also, a processor supporting hardware virtualization will be required, indicating that this is perhaps aimed more at power users and corporate users, rather than consumers. Microsoft confirmed the feature last night.

(link) [Slashdot]

07:56 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Apple fined $19m in 'Predictive Snooping' case

If you wonder why Apple, M$, IBM and other huge corporations file what appear to be the silliest of patents, look no further. Their claim: "It's self defense!" And to a large extent, as this suit shows, they're right!

But of course, once filed and granted, defensive patents begin to look like serious money in the bank to corporate lawyers. So more suits are filed, and the whole spiral descends another level.

If we can't effect reform soon, we're going to be in a place where everything is somebody's "intellectual property", and nothing can be done without paying someone for the privilege of doing it.

Apple has been ordered to pay $19m in damages after losing a patent infringement case which its lawyers hoped might only cost the firm $270,000.

(link) [The Register]

07:53 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link

Laughing hyenas, wailing levees, the sound of cheese and blaring bagpipes

Now this makes me wish I were an acoustical researcher ... maybe I could capture the sound of wool growing!

Deteriorating screws in bridges, fish that listen in the dark, medical devices that use sound to treat disease, the detected comeback of a long-gone whale, the sound of hyenas, cheese, and bagpipes, and what evolution can teach us about cowardice.

(link) [EurekAlert]

07:48 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

24 Apr 2009
The Only Excuse I Need

Tulip in the Yard

for not blogging regularly in April.

11:13 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

20 Apr 2009
12 Small Windmills Put To the Test In Holland

I guess size does matter. Very disappointing.

A real-world test performed by the Dutch province of Zeeland (a very windy place) confirms our earlier analysis that small windmills are a fundamentally flawed technology. Twelve of these much hyped machines were placed in a row on an open plain. Their energy yield was measured over a period of one year, the average wind velocity during these 12 months was 3.8 meters per second (slightly higher than average).

(link) [Low Tech magazine]

via Slashdot

06:50 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

18 Apr 2009
Exhausted

Got about two thirds of the garden tilled today. Would've got it all, but we've expanded it somewhat and cutting new ground is tough. Thankfully it wasn't all that warm today - about 70°F was the high - so it was basically the shake without the bake.

Meanwhile, Lorraine picked up the winter squaw wood from the lawn and then mowed the entire thing.

And just when we thought we were in for the evening and could relax a bit, Kevyn brought our girls home. Sheared and pregnant (hopefully, anyway).

It's been a long day.

21:19 /Home | 1 comment | permanent link

17 Apr 2009
'Mister Jalopy' is the reuse, recycle guru

This is a Good Thing™ - but some of us have been at it a lot longer than the Internet and the global recession. In fact, it's the farmer's real stock in trade, and always has been. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."

There is a "maker's movement" gaining prominence on a global scale.

(link) [CNN.com]

22:27 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

16 Apr 2009
Jamaica cracks down on 'daggering' after broken todger upswing

Ouch!

Jamaican doctors have warned of the dangers of daggering, after being presented with a forest of fractured penises over the last year.

(link) [The Register]

07:21 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Wis. nurse called out of surgery and laid off

Geez, what's wrong with the guy? He coulda just emailed her ....

AP - A nurse was called out of surgery so a manager could tell her she was being laid off.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

07:20 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

15 Apr 2009
Armed America: Behind a broadening run on guns

Somehow, this seemed like a fitting day to post this ...

Firearms sales have their cycles, but types of buyers - and their motivations - have shifted.

(link) [Christian Science Monitor]

19:45 /Politics | 4 comments | permanent link

April 15th, 1452

Vitruvian Manwas the birthday of Leonardo da Vinci, the model Renaissance Man, whose curiosity, intelligence and raw talent still shine half a millennium later.

It is difficult to overestimate his impact - his paintings hang in the finest museums, the richest man on the planet paid millions for one of his notebooks a little more than a decade ago, and even as mundane a machine as my wife's spinning wheel uses the bobbin and flyer mechanism that he designed to speed up the process of spinning wool into cloth. A bridge designed by Leonardo is only now being constructed across the Bosporus, as only recently have our construction techniques caught up with his vision.

Art, science, medicine, engineering - the boundless imagination of this inspiring legend will surely live forever.

19:29 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link