Events

I've always thought Iowans were generally sensible and tolerant. Apparently not all of them: Wow. (Hat tip TPM.)

Guys are installing new windows at IDTWHQ, completing the project begun in March 2009. (I split it into two phases to spread the cost over two years.) I ordered this set mid-August. We thought they'd be done in October, but no such luck. Here's the effect, according to the Inner Drive Technology International Data Center Monitor: The bottom axis shows local time, the vertical shows degrees Celsius. Also keep in mind that servers produce heat, so the server rack usually runs about 2°C warmer than the...

Remember that bit about our unusually warm autumn? Meteorological winter began yesterday, leaving no doubt of its arrival: Chicagoans shivered through the coldest December open in 27 years Wednesday. The day's biting 48 to 56 km/h gusts generated wind chills which ranged from single digits to the mid teens [Fahrenheit] as bursts of snowfall dusted the ground and produced the city's first measurable (3 mm) accumulations at Midway and O'Hare. The snowfall generated patches of black ice which led to a...

Just a quick break from the work, schoolwork, and make-work I've got to do to say: Happy Hanukkah.

The Chicago Tribune reported this morning that average Chicago temperatures have remained above normal month by month for the past nine in a row: The temperature trend to date may be among the most remarkable on record for the period here. November 2010 is to become the ninth consecutive month to close with a temperature which has averaged warmer than normal. That's a nearly unprecedented accomplishment. It means meteorological spring (March through May), meteorological summer (June through August) and...

Via Schneier, the Department of Homeland Security will soon get rid of color-coded warnings: In an interview on “The Daily Show” last year, the homeland security chief, Janet Napolitano, said the department was “revisiting the whole issue of color codes and schemes as to whether, you know, these things really communicate anything to the American people any more.” The answer, apparently, is no. The Homeland Security Department said the colors would be replaced with a new system — recommendations are...

My demo site, Weather Now, has a feature showing weather extremes for the world. Northwest Canada right now is having unusually cold weather. What's the connection? The Calgary Herald published a story about the website yesterday and syndicated it across Canada. Jenna McMurray of the Calgary Sun also picked up the story, and called me for a quick interview. As a result, Weather Now went from a daily average 4,000 page views up to a server-smashing 337,000 yesterday. It seems traffic has tapered off a...

Via Fallows, talented musicians Pomplamoose have scored a Hyndai ad: Just a back-of-the-envelope estimate here, but I'd say that ad will pay for groceries for the next couple of years.

With fewer than 21 days until the end of school forever (or at least until I get the loans paid off), I've spent all my non-work time thinking about entrepreneurship management, emerging market strategy, technology strategy, and environmental economics. Between them I have three papers and one pricing project to complete. The first paper is almost done, pending comments from one of my sources. I'd go celebrate but I have the other three assignments, you see. Someday, I'll look back upon this time, laugh...

Via TPM, this Duke project is cool: This animated interpretation accentuates certain phenomena: the breadth and duration of support for Roosevelt, the shift from a Democratic to a Republican South, the move from an ostensibly east-west division to the contemporary coasts-versus-heartland division, and the stability of the latter. More broadly, this video is a reminder that what constitutes “politics as usual” is always in flux, shifting sometimes abruptly. The landscape of American politics is...