Events

The National Institutes for Health, through a quirk of history, maintainsed the worldwide-standard time zone database until today. A Massachusetts-based company, Astrolabe, Inc., has sued the people who maintain the database for copyright infringement. The company claims to have purchased the rights to The American Atlas, from which the time zone database derived some of its data. From the complaint: Defendant Olson’s unauthorized reproduction of the Works have been published at...

So says Sullivan, reacting to the news that Sarah Palin is done, one hopes forever: Sarah Palin said on Wednesday that she will not seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, ending months of speculation and leaving the Republican field largely settled. Palin had left the door open to a run but gave little sign of joining the race to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama. She made it official in a letter to supporters and in an interview with conservative talk radio host Mark Levin....

The Economist has given me a timely help. Their "doing business in" series I've found accurate and useful; I hope this one keeps up the pattern.

Oh, not here. Heavens. We don't have a lot of real conservatives; they're all in the U.K. Like the Prime Minister, for example: I once stood before a Conservative conference and said it shouldn't matter whether commitment was between a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, or a man and another man. You applauded me for that. Five years on, we're consulting on legalising gay marriage. And to anyone who has reservations, I say: Yes, it's about equality, but it's also about something else: commitment....

Owing to the unceasing rain over the weekend, we visited a couple of museums while in Montréal, including the Musée des Beaux Arts: My friend particularly wanted to see the exhibit on Jean-Paul Gaultier, the clothing designer whose work I only knew from The Fifth Element. I confess, I did not understand much of the work. This, for example, completely eluded me, though it looks kind of cool: (That one comes with webbed pumps.) That's the point of a museum, though: to get exposure to things you wouldn't...

The router at my remote office appears to have a cold, poor thing, which means only my phone and not my laptop can connect to the Intertubes right now. So after finishing this post (in Notepad), I'll go back to reading Joe McGinniss's The Rogue. Now, I never thought Sarah Palin qualified for any office, let alone U.S. vice president, but even I'm stunned. So, I imagine, is John McCain, who has made unexpectedly reasoned and clear statements that make me think he was abducted by aliens from 2007 to 2009....

On a quick weekend in Montréal, where it's mostly grey and rainy, I find bits of color: 14:15 ET today, Canon 7D at ISO-400, f/5.6 at 1/100, 55mm, here. Further down the street:

I just posted this on as a comment to an unfortunate friend's Facebook status. Forgive me; I'm at O'Hare, and kind of punchy: I left my keys in Boston, My phone at SFO, My shoes and belt, I lost 'em too, But where I just don't know. I think I saw my keychain last In Logan's Terminal B. I only hope the TSA Will get them back to me. I'd call them now, those helpful guys Who kept me from my gate, But like I said, my phone's long gone, And now's no time to wait. At least I know my keys are safe At Logan's...

Chicago-based United Continental Airlines followed this week's ANA publicity with a me too: Jeff Smisek, head of the parent company for United and Continental airlines, on Thursday said he was last told by Boeing that the first of the 50 aircraft ordered by the company will be delivered to have in service in the second half of 2012. "We ordered that aircraft in December 2004. So I've been a very patient person," said Smisek, the president and CEO of United Continental Holdings Inc. I'm writing this from...

From the Department of Nerd Studies comes a bit of research even I barely noticed: I'm 15,000 days old today. Like I said, nerd studies.