Events

Sitting in a cube farm outside Cincinnati, Ohio, I start to wonder...is jail anything like this? Researchers have documented the soul- and productivity-sucking effects of cubicles for about 20 years, with other related research going back to the 1950s. Someday I will understand why no one acts on this research...

Lincoln Park, Chicago, this morning:

Via Sullivan, a collection of data and infographics about "the battlefield of love:" There are many opportunities for failure with 3 million first dates every day worldwide. It turns out that sex is pretty important as 56% of adults claim to be unhappy with their sex life and 22% of married people worldwide have had an extramarital affair. Turkey has the highest rate of affairs with 58% of married people, and Israel the lowest with 7%. Cheating is one of the most popular reasons for breaking up with 25%...

Parker hasn't gotten to play in this yet because I had an 8am class, but as soon as that's over we'll hit the park. Welcome to winter:

As in, the window guys are back today actually to put trim on the windows. Not that the pink fiberglass isn't the height of chic: I forgot from the first set that I'll have to paint the trim once they get it in there. I have no idea when I'll get around to this. Time to call my guy... Parker doesn't care about the windows, but he's no fan of the process. When he got home yesterday, he didn't check out the new windows because this scene made him very, very nervous: I mentioned yesterday that not having...

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...