To go or not to go

That is the question. A friend of mine is getting married in Tennessee this weekend. I had planned on driving up there Friday evening, staying the night, going to the wedding Saturday, and then coming back Saturday evening. However, I am concerned that I may not be able to find the gas necessary to do this. I believe I can afford the gas, supply is what I'm worried about. I would hate to get trapped somewhere along the way. I've even considered getting some big gas cans to carry extra on the trip. Right now I'm not sure whether to go or not. I'll have to think about it and hedge my bets.

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Water Water Everywhere.

Some friends of mine are planning to go to New Orleans for Halloween this year. I've been wondering for the pase few days if it will be there. Katrina may make all their worst fears come true.

CNN reports evacuation order

Example of the bowl New Orleans has become waiting for a huricane to fill it. And the work to keep the Mississippi open for shipping has eroded all the barrier marshes.

I hope that everyone evacuates or finds a safe shelter. I have a sneaking suspicion that this may be about as bad as everyone fears. The problem is that any kind of cleanup will cost billions, and the city will still be in danger from the next big storm. All the money will patch the area. It won't fix the problem. It may become a prime example of the folly our believed intelligence can lead us to. I feel that we need to move out of the area, let the Mississippi do what it wants to, and try to fix the marshes.

But for now, lets pray everyone gets out or survives.

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Gaseous Emissions

I was reading my daily NYTimes e-mail of current articles yesterday when I came across this. I was going to write something about it, but I got distracted. Then today I was reminded of it when the CNN RSS feed threw this up. To sum up, nine northeastern US states are looking to pass an agreement to curb and then reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. If you want to hear me ramble on you know what to do.

First of all, it does my heart good to watch States flex their regulatory muscles, to remind everyone that they still exist. It helps solidify the power for all States that would like to regulate something they see as a local problem, though some want to regulate different things.

Second, the article mentions that the US, President Bush, didn’t sign the Kyoto Protocol. I actually kind of understand that. I don’t think the US could have met the strict goals set in the KP without causing massive economic problems. However, I also think the current administration has done an awful job promoting good environmental practices and improvement. I wanted to see us not sign the KP, but commit to working to meet the goal as fast as we could. There are lots of relatively inexpensive ways we could do that: new efficient power plants, auto efficiencies, insulation in buildings, alternate power sources, etc.

Anyway, this agreement pretty much affects coal power plants the most. Coal is the most common power plant fuel used, and is the cheapest. The problem is it is also one of the dirtiest. A normal steam coal plant spews more radioactive material up it’s flue than any properly functioning US nuclear power plant. That doesn’t even mention sulfur for acid rain, soot, ash, smog components, carbon dioxide, etc. There are scrubbers and other technologies that clean up some of the pollution, but they can be expensive to add and run.

The thing is that coal is cheap and plentiful. It makes it an excellent power source, if it didn’t pollute so much. The answer seems simple, make coal pollute less. There are three major ways to do this; improve the efficiency, clean the fuel before you burn it, and clean the emissions before you release them. Current steam coal plants are about as efficient as you can make them. They currently wash the coal and other things to help clean it for steam plants. Steam coal plants already scrub the emissions to remove pollutants.

You may have noticed that I keep saying steam. Most of our coal plants run off the same technology that James Watt helped invent. We’ve extracted about all the efficiency, around 35%, and innovation we can out of the technology. Therefore, if we want a big change in efficiency, we need to look at new technology.

Stepping up to bat we have coal gasification technology. (Viewer for people without Office.) Basically the coal is heated in a special apparatus, similar to how oil is refined, and it is broken down into gasses and remnants. The remnants can be processed for use or disposal and the gasses can be cleaned in preparation for combustion. Cleaning at this point is more efficient and effective than post combustion. Then the gasses are burned in high efficiency heat recovery turbines. These systems are capable of passing 55% efficiency, and hold promise of improvements in pollution control, even CO2 capturing.

Recent administration initiatives have not promoted this technology. In fact they have relaxed regulations that made coal gasification (CG) more attractive as a design for new power plants and as incentive to replace older more polluting coal plants. I know that some CG plants are being planned as power companies are hedging their bets against future pollution controls, but many are just building regular old steam coal plants.

I’m glad to see some States taking an active roll in cleaning up some of this mess. Now it’s time to put the soap box away.

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Fun time punch list

A lot of the students are showing back up on campus today, so it’s getting really fun here. I’m taking some spare minutes to say a few things about some stuff. Yeah that covers it pretty nicely. Read my ramble at your own risk.

Ars Technica has a little thing about the spread of RSS (really simple syndication) and other types of webfeeds. It indicates that it hasn’t spread a lot yet. Frankly I didn’t start using it until a few months back. Considering IE doesn’t even support it yet that puts a huge dint in the available market as well. For all those who use non-IE browsers, I suggest you take a look at RSS feeds and see if they may be helpful. I use them to notify me of updates to Blogs, news sites, Gmail, etc. Luckily the next version of IE and even the next version of Windows are supposed to make extensive use of RSS. MS is also rumored to be working on extensions to the form to allow more functionality. Hopefully these will be well documented and free for all to use. Given MS’s recent openness it might turn out ok.

I get an e-mail of stories form the NYTimes every day. Recently they had a spot about one of my favorite Senators , Bill Frist. Apparently after pissing a bunch of the far right off by supporting stem cell research, he has decided to support teaching intelligent design alongside evolution in schools to try to CHA. I love how this is a more heated topic now than it has been in around 75 years. It’s weird and scary. Some of the ID people say that a lot of scientists don’t agree about evolution. That is indeed the case. However, they play up the disagreements so that you feel the scientists are discussing whether an object is a tractor trailer or a sedan, when most of the scientists’ disagreements are over the tire pressure or the rubber compound of the tractor trailer. I also hear that they are going to start teaching the 4 element chemistry system: earth, air, water, and fire, and that bloodletting and leaches are making a comeback in medical school. I mean the current atomic model is a theory with holes and the germ and virus infection vector is based a lot on conjecture and secondary evidence for things we can’t observe directly. Someone sent me this link to a list of stickers for textbooks. The top left is one of the actual stickers. The bottom right kills me.

Hmm I Just finished typing the above when I got more good stuff from the NYTimes. This article talks about ID and evolution. It’s pretty good. One thing though in the middle of page 3, useless items might not fade away. Primarily inhibitory or items that waste energy fade. Some things are neutral and simply stay around as an oddity. Men have useless nipples, because they don’t get in the way and it adds unnecessary complexity to get rid of them. Sometimes these neutral items can interact with another neutral mutation or environment change to become useful. Evolution is an opportunist after all. Then there was a second article which I also really liked.

I was looking over at Ars and the prospect for looking at HDTV on your current computer or monitor is pretty low. Currently you can watch TV on your computer by buying a card that captures the TV signal and turns it into a viewable image. Most of them include recording software so that you can use your computer as a VCR or DVR. Well the industry is scared you are going to record something and watch or distribute it without giving them their cut. Therefore HDTV requires a special authenticated signal that will require new software, probably including OS, hardware, and a compatible monitor. Well guess what, most current monitors aren’t compatible. That means that you will basically need a brand new computer to watch future HD programming. I personally think it’s a load of crap that is going to piss a bunch of people off. Make sure that any of you looking for an HDTV research the model for compatibility with the authentication.

For a short plug, Ars had a nice little article about Amazon offering short stories without DRM restrictions. I know some writer friends that might want to check it out.

I saw this on CNN’s RSS feed and wondered if I had awoken in Bizzaro world. I’m going to defer to Smitty, but I don’t seem to remember any assassination or surreptitious overthrow support plans that worked out well for the US.

And watch out for getting shot at the gas pump. Also watch for people stealing your gas at night.

You know what. I need more time to read.

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She needs some Visine

I thought I would give a little review. I broke down and went to see a movie yesterday. I wasn’t sure what I was going to see, until I got to Anderson. It was just one of those times I needed to get out of the house to do something. Anyway I ended up seeing Red Eye. The movie had received good reviews on RT so I thought I would give it a shot. If you want to hear about it follow my rambling. I’ll try to avoid spoilers, but no promises.

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed the movie. It is directed by Wes Craven, and it definitely has some of that feel to it. Some of you may recognize Rachel McAdams from Wedding Crashers, Mean Girls, The Notebook, and The Hot Chick. I like the brunette look she has in this one. You may also recognize Cillian Murphy as the creepy rendition of an early Scarecrow from Batman Begins. He makes good use of that creepiness and those piercing blue eyes in this one.

The movie starts out letting you know something is wrong, but it doesn’t let on exactly what. The first 2/3^rd of the movie is a suspenseful, personally frightening, and makes you feel claustrophobic and exposed all at the same time. There were parts that made me think, “How the hell am I gonna get out of this?” Then the last third gives you that Wes Craven running against the clock action and think fast sequence.

It’s mainly a two actor film, which I love. The interaction is great. The disbelief of McAdams at the revelation of the true intentions of Murphy’s character is excellent. The cool and nonchalant way Murphy talks about reality of his job, as though he coordinated projects for companies, is mesmerizing but believable. And McAdams’ character isn’t stupid or bumbling. In fact I admired the character’s ability to pull it back together and act when necessary. I watched her act several seconds later on thoughts I had about courses of action, and thought, “Yes. Yes. It might not work but you have to try.” There was even one instance when she managed to acquire a pen. I began to run the possibilities of the pen and a note. Then I thought, “Or she could do this.” Not 8 seconds later she did it, and I almost exclaimed, “Yeah take that you sonnofa bitch.” I only saw one trip up coming that should have been avoidable, but I’ve actually seen people do that while not being chased. I forgave it.

Anyway, I really liked the movie. I wouldn’t say it’s a great movie, but it’s definitely good. I would recommend it for a matinee or a rental. I just don’t see the need to pay full price for it though, unless you can’t make any other time. Man I love heroes and heroines that make smart choices using average abilities.

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Sibling Rivalry and Brotherly Love

I just finished reading Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis. I usually don’t say things like this at the beginning of a review, for several reasons, but that is a damned fine read right there. I mean yes you should expect that of a Pulitzer Prize winner, but man I liked it. If you want more follow my rambling.

Frankly, I’m not sure I’m going to have a lot to say about this book, primarily because I don’t want to give much away. I’ll try to give what I can.

I like books about history, especially well written books, but you might have guessed that from my reading list. As the title suggests, this book is about The Revolutionary Generation. It doesn’t really cover a chronological series of events or a timeline of individuals. It borrows a hint form The Outer Limits. Instead of giving you a thousand channels, it seeks to expand one image to crystal clarity.

The book takes six “events” involving the famous and important founding members of the beginning of the US. Ellis expands on these events to give the reader a better understanding of the people involved and the events and politics that lead to and surrounded these events. In doing so he gives you a more intimate look at the people and the time than one normally gets from simple chronological histories of the era. I would go so far as to say that this book has improved my understanding of the time and people than most of the previous books that I have read combined.

I think that anyone who likes history, politics, personality, and the complex webs they weave, then you should like this book. It took me a little longer to read than normal, but that’s because I wanted to absorb every word. Everyone who cases about where this country has been and where it’s going should read this book.

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Hit the broad side of a warehouse

So I was checking out the RSS feed that I get form CNN and this came across. I would like someone to correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems as if none of the ships were actually hit. In fact it looks like they swung at the US and punched Jordan in the process. And the US didn’t even have to duck. Oh and they made a pothole in Eliat Israel. Way to go guys, jeez. I would expect to see that on World’s Stupidest Criminals.

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That’s just me all over

A friend of mine has been looking for possible future places to live and work, so she went to the Find Your Spot site and took the quiz. The site requires registration at the end, but I put in some erroneous information and an e-mail address at which I don’t mind getting trash. It looked like fun, so jump straight in and follow my rambling to the list.

1. Lewiston, Maine

2. Deland, Florida

3. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania

4. Hattiesburg, Mississippi

5. Plymouth, New Hampshire

6. Maryville Tennessee

7. Johnstown, Pennsylvania

8. Easton, Pennsylvania

9. Plattsburg, New York

10. Hancock-Houghton, Michigan

11. Hendersonville, North Carolina

12. San Marcos, Texas

13. Boone, North Carolina

14. James Town, New York

15. Crystal River, Florida

16. Ketchikan, Alaska

17. Augusta, Maine

18. Wenatchee, Washington

19. Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

20. Bremerton, Washington

21. Seward, Alaska

22. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

23. Bar Harbor, Maine

24. Spearfish, South Dakota

I’m not really looking to move, but some of these places sound nice. The diversity, Florida to Maine and Mississippi to Alaska, sounds about right. I’ve come to expect this from tests that try to predict what I like or pigeonhole me. Almost invariably it looks like I shot the test readout, or in this case a map of the US, with a shotgun loaded with bird shot.

I was also disappointed that Clemson didn’t appear on the list. Looking at the descriptions of the towns would seem to make Clemson a good candidate for the list, but looking at the short list of places they have for SC explained it.

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The Fantasy of War

As you probably haven’t noticed, my book list in the lower part of the left hand column has changed slightly. That is correct. I have finished Sentry Peak by Harry Turtledove. If you want to see the review, then ramble along with me.

On the top of the back of the novel is the most apt description of the book; The Strangest Civil War Novel You Ever Read. For those of you that don’t know, Turtledove is described as one of the masters of alternate history.

Lets see if I can give a brief rundown of the story. The dark haired invaders came to the western shore of the new continent centuries ago. Their superior weapons, magecraft, and, from their own account, gods allowed them to conquer the blond haired inhabitants of the new land. The dark hairs broke free of their origins in the old world and started a new kingdom called Detina where they bound the blond serfs to the land of liege lords. The northern, warmer provinces grew to include lord owned large farms growing indigo for trade. The cooler south never saw such growth of serfs bound to the land. The southrons concentrated on shipping, business, and eventually manufactories. Over time the provinces spread east to the great river, while colonizers continued to explore east fighting the blonds all the way.

The war has been going on for about 3 years. The kingdom is broken in two. King Avram, charismatic if not handsome, took the crown, and in doing so promised to free the serfs from their ties to the land. The northern provinces, dependent on serfs for their crops, declared provincial prerogative and broke away naming Grand Duke Geoffrey, the handsome but cold and calculating, king of their realm. The southrons couldn’t sit by and let Detina be torn asunder, so they sought resolution through war.

The book is staged at the border between Franklin and Peachtree provinces. There are clashes of armies and officers. There is strategizing and maneuvering. There is exploration of the difference between commanding well, poorly, and second guessing. The most fun is figuring out what is based on actual events and people. As an examply it’s pretty easy to figure out what real life city is represented by the great port of Karlesburg in the Palmetto province where the first southron fort fell at the start of the war. The north has the better soldiers, some generals, and magecraft, but the southrons have more soldiers, mages, and manufactories.

I really liked this book. I have to say that if all of Turtledove’s books are this well written, researched, and characterized then I’m going to be an addict. I was a little afraid it was going to take me a while to get through this much book, but I flew through it pretty fast. The action is fast paced and the characters develop quite well. Now it’s probably easier since it’s based actual people, but it does an excellent job of making the characters realistic.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes history, fantasy, combat strategy, or a well executed commentary on commanding and leadership. Personally, I’m going to have to read some more of Turtledove’s work.

And now I’m off to Founding Brothers.

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Adding a site to my frequented list

Ars Technica had a nice little blurb about an article over at The Economist about video games. I found it an excellent article at which to point skeptical others. It expands on some of the things I said in an earlier post, so I won’t replicate what I said.

I haven’t looked at The Economist since I saw my grandfather’s editions when I was a child. I’ve been impressed with the stories I’ve seen reference the magazine of late. I think I’m going to have top add it to my list of frequented sites. Now I just need to get some more time.

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It’s a Bird? A Plane? A School Bus?!?

I had a hankering to see a movie yesterday. Given what was playing when, I was left with one choice. I went to see Sky High. I’d heard good things about it in reviews, so I went for it.

I’ll keep the review short, because it doesn’t need to be long. Basically it’s a pretty fun and enjoyable movie. It’s good to take kids too, but it has more then enough entertainment for adults too. Of course it’s a coming of age high school movie about teenagers, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. There’s enough camp and realistic teenage emotional bumbling to keep you entertained, even with the highly predictable plot.

I say it’s definitely worth seeing in a matinee once, if you aren’t a movie snob. If you can’t stand camp or anything relating to teenagers, then stay away.

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Bean town was windy

As I told you before, I went to Boston last week to celebrate my mother’s retirement from teaching. It was a packed week, and we saw a lot of stuff. This is going to be a long tale, so in order to keep the front page manageable you will have to use the link to get to the rest of the rambling.

My mother became enamored of the train while in Europe with my sister. She decided that the trip to Boston would be made by train. I will tell you that a trip by train is fine and interesting for something that is about ten hours or so. Ten hours gets you to DC from Greenville aboard AMTrak. Boston is quite a bit farther north than DC. Our trip was twenty hours by train with a 1.5 hour stopover in Penn Station NYC. Actually on the return trip I stepped up to street level at Penn Station and went outside with my godsister’s words ringing in my ears, “Don’t look like a hick in Boston.” I don’t think I ever really look like a hick unless I mean to, but I could be wrong. However, I will say that I can be crude, unrefined, and blunt, but I consider those my endearing qualities. I remember thinking as I stepped out onto the street, “Hmm. That’s a lot of taxis. That’s a big Post Office. That’s a tall building.” Seemed like a big city to me, though I wasn’t there long enough to see anything spectacular. Big buildings for the sake of big buildings don’t really impress me much. I’m more interested in history and uniqueness. I would have liked to explore more, but I had to get back to the train.

First we had to figure out the transportation system in Boston. We got a hotel in Newton. That meant we had to ride the bus to a location to get the train system. It wasn’t too bad, but it ate about 40 minutes and $2 each way. The hotel and drivers were very helpful and friendly. For those of you that want to go, I have some suggestions at the end of the summary, if you can call something this long a summary.

The weather was in the 90s F the first day, but it was less humid that in SC and a wind was always blowing. That day it was 102 F at home. It threatened rain that night and the next day it never got out of the 70s F still with a constant wind. The morning and evening saw 60s F. The following days it touched the 80s F, so it was great. We never had rain or anything else that ruined a day there.

OOoo look it’s a map.

Our first trip in, we went into Government Center. That’s a fine station, but the most important ones for the historical areas are Park in Boston Common, State under the Old State House, and Haymarket in the North end. Government center is kind of in the middle of those, but it’s also not near a lot of stuff. We went from GC up through some of historic Beacon Hill, nice houses and antique shops, down the upper edge of the common until we had to go into Cheers. Duh we had to go into there. We walked around in the Common and went to the Visitor Center near Park station. We walked through the downtown area near Washington and walked a part of the Freedom Trail, the red line on the map. And now I loose all track of time, so I’ll talk about sites.

Get a trolley tour on the first day. Old Town Trolley Tours was ours and it was great. Use it to make notes of what you would like to see where. There are even night tours for the graveyards.

Walk or ride the subway to long attractions, museums, aquarium, etc for a few days, then get a 3 day pass and zip around seeing all the fast small things you want to see.

You have to go to the Common to see the statues, frog pond, and Swan boats. We almost went to the Hamlet production, but it got rained out.

Walk most if not all of the Freedom Trail. There are walking tours of it with guides. Some of the trolley tours offer these as free perks. Almost every building has a plaque.

Walk around Beacon Hill, or take one of the walking tours. Check for freebies from trolley tickets.

Visit The Old South Meeting House, The Old State House (First public reading of the Declaration of Independence and next to the site of the Boston Massacre), Faneuil Hall Marketplace (be sure to go upstairs), and Quincy Market for eating. The Cheers replica at Quincy was nice and reasonably priced. When going to the Old State house we saw a lot of people pouring out of the basement. We looked and there was a subway entrance. It turns out that’s the State subway station. Weird

Be sure to top by the Union Oyster House and that area. All the places there boast about being the oldest restaurant, pub, or tavern. We ate at The Purple Shamrock. I had the Irish Mix plate, and some superb clam chowda. We also ate at The Green Dragon, an Irish pub where we were served by an Irish woman. I know, because I had to say “Excuse me?” about 4 times. It seemed to be a local hangout with only 10 tables. That was some nice blackened chicken with penne pasta.

Follow The Freedom Trail up through the North End to see Paul Revere’s house and The Old North Church. We took the tour of Paul’s house and sat in the pews of the church for a little history talk. While you are there stop and peruse the restaurants of the Italian section. You have to stop at Mike’s Pastry on Hanover Street. We got a box full of stuff for about $13.

Stop by the aquarium, Imax theater, and Legal Seafood down by Long Warf. We had a great time at the aquarium. If you really want seafood, go to The Barking Crab in the seaport district or south Boston. It’s supposed to be one of the city’s best.

Follow the Freedom trail over the bridge and see the Bunker Hill Monument and the USS Constitution. The constitution was out in the harbor when we got there, and we thought we were going to miss it. It was turned around and brought back in before we left that day, but we didn’t have time for a full tour.

We didn’t even get to see Harvard (Hahviid to Bostonians), the Museum of Fine Arts, or any of hundreds of other places.

If you can’t tell I had a great time, with the exception of the extra long train ride. I would dearly like to go back to see all of the things I missed. You really need 7 days to see everything that you want to see, but we packed a whole lot into the 4 that we were there. The subway system is a breeze to figure out, the busses not so much. If you are having problems ask someone. I was very pleasantly surprised at the friendliness of the people in Boston. In truth most of the time, I felt like I was walking around in downtown Greenville. The streets and subways were really clean and well cared for. Most of the buildings had placards on them indicating their history. It was relatively easy to find places to eat. And the peninsula is remarkably small. We walked all over the place, and things were always closer than they appeared on the map. It might look like 5 blocks to the place, but some of those blocks are 150 feet long. I recommend that if you go try to find a hotel on the subway or train line. Taking the bus was a hassle.

Boston IS a great place to visit.

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One more won’t hurt

Ok so apparently I am a recovering consumer whore. I say recovering, because I stay fairly clean, but I do have lapses. I bring this up because I bought things in Boston and then I bought things in Anderson when I got back.

First of all I bought a t-shirt when I went to see the USS Constitution. That’s one big honkin’ wooden vessel. I also got a Zippo lighter with the Constitution on it. Lighters are small and don’t break when you have to carry them around all day. I bought Sam’s Bartender Guide at Cheers. It has something like 2600 recipes in it, and it won’t break either. As you can see glasses were out of the question. While at The Old State House I broke down and bought two books. One was The Federalist and the other a biography of Benjamin Franklin. I bought them because they were pretty good prices and it helps support the museum. I like supporting museums.

Then when I got home I went to Anderson and walked into Books-a-Jillion or whatever it’s named. I have to fight purchase urges every time I go into book stores, electronics stores, and similar places. This time I lost the fight. I’ve had fun reading books from Peter David recently, and I saw all three books from a series I have had my eye on. I therefore admit that I purchased Sir Apropos of Nothing, Sir Apropos of Nothing, Book Two: The Woad to Wuin, and Sir Apropos of Nothing, Book Three: Tong Lashing. We’ll see if I misstepped in getting all three at once.

Right now I’m about 1/3 of the way through my Harry Turtledove book, and it looks like I’m going to start collecting more of his books as well. Oooo. Birthday and Christmas presents.

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Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jog

I got off the train from Boston yesterday morning at 5:30 AM, drove to Clemson, took a shower, ate breakfast, and came into work. I still had my train legs for most of the morning, the room shook slightly and I staggered when I walked. After work I went home and unpacked a little. I got on the bed for a nap at 5:30 PM. I woke up at 7:37 PM and thought, "I am gonna need to get something to eat." My next thought was, "Why am I on this side of the bed while the alarm is going off?" That's right I slept from 7:37 PM until 6:24 AM, after taking a 2 hour "nap." I was tired.

So now I'm back at work, and I feel much better now. I'm still playing catch up on some stuff, and filling in for sommeone else, so it will be later for a report about Boston. Hmm, maybe I'll be able to eat supper tonight.

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