Events

This morning I've been working in the Inner Drive Technology Comprehensive Testing Facility, trying to read an ancient hard drive I discovered a while ago. I've tried many methods to read this old 130 MB disk. It has two files on it, a "readme" file dated 23 February 1995, and a Doublespace volume with the same date. In other words, this hard drive is a snapshot of what I was doing 11 years ago. In order to read a Doublespace volume, you need MS DOS 6.22, Windows 95, or Windows 98. I haven't had a...

Interesing news stories of the day: Sharon still critically ill; if he survives, he'll likely be severely disabled Jon Stewart to host the Oscars Cult shocker: Hollywood's creepiest couple on the rocks (didn't see that one coming)

The President yesterday made 17 recess appointments to positions requiring Senate approval, which gets the people into office until the Senate can meet. In other words, the White House knows or has reason to believe that the Senate would not confirm, or would in some other way obstruct, these appointments. So the President just put them into office, where they stay until the Senate can hold confirmation hearings. This gives the Senate the opportunity to allow the appointments to stand without actually...

MSNBC is reporting this hour that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has suffered a "significant" stroke: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a “significant” stroke Wednesday after being brought to the hospital from his ranch in the Negev desert, a hospital official said. Minutes later, a hospital official said Sharon had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, director general of Hadassah Hospital, said Sharon was put under general anesthetic and was receiving breathing...

My cousin Matt just sent me information about a portable power meter that you can use to see how much electricity your appliances are actually using. It's pretty cool. It might be interesting to see how much power things use when they're off.

Forecaster Avila at the National Hurricane Center had this to say about Tropical Storm Zeta: ZETA AS A WEAKENING CYCLONE SHOULD[...]MOVE BETWEEN THE NORTHWEST AND NORTH-NORTHWEST UNTIL DISSIPATION. AS YOU CAN SEE...I RAN OUT [OF] THINGS TO SAY. 'Nuff said.

The National Hurricane Center reports this hour that Tropical Storm Zeta, only the second January tropical storm ever recorded, may become a hurricane. It probably won't, but it's already so close as to make the distinction irrelevant to any ships in the area. I'm putting this in the Politics category as well as the Weather category because I believe it's one more example of the increased tropical activity predicted by the global warming hypothesis and ignored by current U.S. policy. For those of you...

Our stupid Webcam fell again:

As promised, here is the world's ugliest menorah:

Welcome to another year of the Blog. Anne and I wound up at the Majestic Hotel right in the middle of our old neighborhood, and then we rang in the New Year at a (relatively) new bar on Clark Street, whose name escapes me. Lots of fun. Forgot the Champagne, though. New Year's Resolution: 1024 x 768 (I'm using my laptop). Complaints about the weather: None from me. It's 4°C (40°F) right now, which for a Chicago New Year's Day is delightfully warm. However, this guy that I saw on the way home from the El...