Events

In the past week, I've been "on the bench" at work, so I've take the time to get deeply familiar with Microsoft Windows Azure. My company, 10th Magnitude, is a 100% cloud-computing shop, and a Microsoft partner. I've been developing for Azure Web applications for a year, but I haven't had to deal with migrating existing sites, pricing, or configuration on my own; this is why we're a team, right? So, anyway, I've taken what I've learned at work, and: Selected a simple website to migrate; in this case...

When working with Microsoft Windows Azure, I sometimes feel like I'm back in the 1980s. They've rushed their development tools to market so that they can get us developers working on Azure projects, but they haven't yet added the kinds of error messages that one would hope to see. I've spent most of today trying to get the simplest website in my server rack up into Azure. The last hour and a half has been spent trying to figure out two related error messages that occurred when trying to debug a Web...

The Texas Republicans published their 2012 platform this week, vowing to stop teaching children critical reasoning skills in the next four years. I was curious about other GOP platforms, to see if Texas was an aberration, and I found this one: Resolved, That we, the delegated representatives of the Republican electors of the United States, in convention assembled, in discharge of the duty we owe to our constituent and our country, unite in the following declarations: ... 8. That the normal condition of...

The Texas Republican Party has published their platform after their recent convention, and...well: We decry the appointment of unelected bureaucrats, and we urge Congress to use their constitutional authority to defund and abolish these positions and return authority to duly elected officials, accountable to the electorate. We strongly support the immediate repeal of the Endangered Species Act. We strongly oppose the listing of the dune sage brush lizard either as a threatened or an endangered species....

The temperature in downtown Chicago edged up to 100°F (38°C) this afternoon: At 2:23 pm the temperature at Midway Airport as measured by observer Frank Wachowski reached 37.83°C . Last summer Midway recorded triple-digits on two occasions: July 20, 37.8°C, and July 21, 38.3°C. On both of those days the city's official thermometer at O'Hare International Airport peaked at 37.2°C. So far today O'Hare's temperature has peaked at 37.2°C but should reach 37.8°C or higher later this afternoon. The city's last...

In my first pass through National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, I am alternately stunned, fascinated, confused, and relieved. The more I think about it, though, the more I realize that big business was the big winner today. Chief Justice Roberts delivered the opinion of the Court, upholding nearly all the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamneycare"). Justice Kennedy, usually the swing vote, joined on the right-wing dissent. In a nutshell, the court ruled: The...

The New York Times just sent me a bulletin saying the Supreme Court has ruled on the Affordable Care Act, so I rushed to the Court's website to find...U.S. v. Alvarez. In this case, a man falsely claimed to have won the Medal of Honor, and was convicted under 18 USC 704 (the "Stolen Valor Act"), which makes it a crime to lie about receiving military honors. In a 5-3 decision, the court said the act is unconstitutional under the first amendment. Justice Kennedy wrote the court's opinion, joined by Chief...

Some misguided people in the ancestral homeland want to rename Big Ben in honor of a living monarch: London's Big Ben clock tower is to be renamed Elizabeth Tower to mark the queen's 60th year on the British throne. Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the name change. "The renaming of the Clock Tower to the Elizabeth Tower is a fitting recognition of the Queen's 60 years of service. This is an exceptional tribute to an exceptional monarch," he said. Reactions among the public were mixed, however. "Big...

I don't know how extensive this is, but Google Maps street view now goes inside buildings: To see this for yourself, go on Google Maps to 1028 W Diversey Pkwy, Chicago, 60614. Click on the balloon over Paddy Long's Pub, and click Street View. Notice the double chevron pointing toward the sidewalk: Click that. And then explore. I can only weep that we didn't have this kind of data throughout history to see how people lived in the past. And I can only weep for what this will do to privacy. Update: It...

Chicago is about to get hotter than the pit of hell: Our predicted 39°C high Thursday would mark the first "official" triple-digit [Fahrenheit] temperature in Chicago in 7 years. (Note: 38°C readings occurred at Midway Airport twice last July—but NOT at O'Hare, the official site.) And the heat appears likely to hang on through the coming weekend and into next week—though scattered thunderstorms may bubble up in spots and afternoon breezes off Lake Michigan may temper the hottest readings on area beaches...