Jamcleat » current events

Citizen Graham

cbcalvin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:02:36 +0000

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) has discussed with other lawmakers the possibility of drafting a constitutional amendment to deny U.S. born children of illegally present mothers the U.S. citizenship guaranteed by the constitution. Go for it Senator! Senator Graham and his cronies cannot seem to even get a majority together to properly fund a patrol on the border to keep out drug carriers or bombers. He should be concentrating on sorting the wheat from the chaff of the immigrants who come here by choice. He should leave the newborns that have no choice in the matter alone. Apparently his once keen mind is fading. A trick from Genesis: Distract the audience with something truly inconsequential while the really important stuff slithers by. Time to pass the baton, Senator Graham. I will be voting for whoever makes him Former Senator Graham.

Ice is Nice

cbcalvin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Sitting here on the deck on a seasonally hot day reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. I have a glass of what was ice water. Before the ice “cubes” melted, they were prisms of a segment. That is the shape that the level water in the ice maker has as the intersection with the arc that is the mold. Someplace around here, I have articles (a,b,c) about ice maker repair but when it works an ice maker is a wonderful thing.

In a previous time, the ice cubes had to be made in the freezer section of the refrigerator. A metal pan held held metal dividers that had to be warmed or shifted with a lever to separate the rectangular prisms from the separators in the tray. When plastic became popular, a plastic tray made “cubes” with trapezoidal faces. These trays ejected the ice everywhere but into the glass you were trying to fill.

Back even farther, chunks of ice were broken from the same block of ice that cooled the food in the ice box. An ice pick was poked at the ice until a chunk came off. The block of ice likely came from an ice plant where ammonia refrigerant cooled a couple of gallons of water in each mold to make thousands of blocks every day.

Even farther back and maybe still today where it is more economical than not, ice was sawn from surface of a lake or even a purpose-built pond. Hauled and stored in an ice-house with sawdust packed between the blocks to keep them from sticking and to insulate.

Just some thoughts on a day when the temperature is 97 or so. A bit of a breeze make it tolerable. And ice water makes it enjoyable.

Software Patents

cbcalvin — Tue, 04 May 2010 23:55:38 +0000

Patents give an inventor the Constitutionally protected exclusive right to a particular process for altering material or to a device for a specific purpose. The US Patent office has managed to extended this to software. Most of the software patents I have read fail to alter material or fail to be a device.
If I ran the zoo, I would permit any software patent given two conditions: 1) It alters something tangible. A general purpose computer does not count. The software needs to turn on a light, roll a bar of steel, catch a mouse. Not tell a broker when to buy. Not bounce a virtual ball screen. Not make a 2-D movie appear 3-D. 2) All of the source code related to the patent must be published as part of the patent grant. It can be secret up to the moment of grant but after that it is public information just as the patent law specifies that the patent enable the reproduction of the process or art at the expiration of the patent. Only the processes included in the published source code are protected. Different code that accomplishes the same end is not infringing.
We will have to wait a little bit to find out what the Supremes have to say about Bilski.

Hummerdink! Hummerdink! Hummerdink!

cbcalvin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 05:03:32 +0000

A tweet about a WSJ article authored by Penn Jillette that I read Saturday. The article led to an out-loud laugh when I read what it would take for Hummer to meet the fuel economy standard President Obama proposes. Mr. Jillette – this one’s for you.

Mine Safety

cbcalvin — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:09:00 +0000

While there were no U.S. mine fatalities in 2009, this year’s toll is already too large. The various states agencies and the federal government provide inspections and enforcement of regulations. But death and injury still continue to occur in mines. May I suggest a regulation that requires the CEO of the mining company to personally inspect each mine at least once per quarter and the next tier of management at least once per month. By inspection, I am not talking about a photo-op, above-ground visit. What I had in mind was a trip to the mine face, up-close and personal. It is possible that this would bring additional focus on the safety and conditions in the mine.

Opionion On Obamacare Oh-Oh-Oh

cbcalvin — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 02:33:53 +0000

I link without additional comment.

PLUTO V. ERIS

cbcalvin — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 05:52:23 +0000

I have just returned from Asheville, NC where I saw a most amazing play. PLUTO V. ERIS. A play to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the publication of Galileo’s The Starry Messenger.

Full disclosure, I probably would not have heard about this play if my daughter did not play a part.

A classic play in the sense that it’s form and presentation model a Greek classic play. Or perhaps a modern civil trial.

A number of gods and goddesses from myth and legend are gathered for a Council of Celestial Beings. Eris, goddess of Discord, is accused by Pluto, god of the Underworld, of treason and general mayhem. Testimony proceeds through dialog and deposition. The costumes of the gods and goddess are outstanding from the Polynesian and Hawaiian god and goddess that open the show to the giant planet giants that join in the testimony. The cut paper figures in the shadow puppet deposition video are worth the visit in themselves. Classic shapes. Classic themes. Great action.

As the play unfolds, the interaction of myth and earth reality are explored. In the end, there are choices to be made.

The Vance Elementary School in Asheville Planetorium is the near-perfect performance space for this play. The semi-circular stadium is reminiscent of the Greek and Roman theaters of ancient times. More so because the ceiling of the Planetorium is hung with models of the planets with Earth the size of a basketball and the others to match.

Just one more performance in this round on the March 27, 2010 at 8:00 PM. A great show and worth the trip. A website for more info. Contributions benefit the Vance Elementary NASA program.

Blessings

cbcalvin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:25:44 +0000

I am blessed that last month my son son became a member Upsilon Pi Epsilon (ΥΠΕ), the International honor society for people with interest and ability in Computer Science (CS).
I am impressed that in a small school, the UPE inductees include a young woman and young man with a visual handicap.

Analemma

cbcalvin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:48:23 +0000

Tomorrow night you will be [nodding | shaking | scratching] your head at President Obama’s State of the Union Address. As a politician, Obama (or his speech writers) will make sure that all of the right buttons are pushed. As a citizen, you will be shaking your head at all of the unfulfilled promises of the campaign trail. And as a real live person, you will be scratching your head as to [where are we now? | what should we do? | long range plans?]. Yes, Barack Obama is the ultimate enigma. Perhaps, recent election results will energize him to new ideas and directions. Hopefully the face-to-face with the massed Congress will be a wake up call to both the Congress and the President. I suspect that despite the applause, most of the 435+100+9+1 will sleep through class. Do not blame the professor (at least I expect him to show on time, the Secret Service will see to that), I suspect insufficient pre-class preparation by the occupants of the lecture hall is the main problem.

Missing Kate McGarrigle

cbcalvin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:09:40 +0000

A note on the front of the Wall Street Journal Tuesday made me sad. I will miss Kate McGarrigle but I will always hear her song.