MakeZine.com (please use responsibly)

OK, so one of our customers placed a special order for Make: technology on your time, Volume 3, which was the first we'd heard of it:


Make: Tech on Your Time, Volume 3

Next thing I know my husband has told a young friend in college about the magazine and the online site, and now it sounds like maybe this guy is getting an entire engineering club immersed in it. And... Well, to make a long story short, some sort of "Make" fever seems to be spreading around here. I don't know whether to applaud or go for cover, to be honest with you. Interspersed with perfectly civilized projects are some that look like they could, ummm, get out of hand, I guess you could say.

I have Volume 3 on hand as I type. It's just short of nine and a half inches tall, by just over six and a half inches wide. It's 194 pages, perfect bound (like a trade paperback), and the paper and the cover stock both feel good; not flimsy. It's definitely aimed at the sorts of folks who appreciate ingenuity and like to tinker with things. Have a VCR on hand? It can be used to make a cat feeder that delivers a set amount of food at specific times. For the, ummm, more active invention geek, there's a potato cannon. (I can see why this might appeal to college guys...). There's a primer on using a portable wire-feed welder. There's an article on an alarm clock that moves so you have to get out of bed to turn it off. (The link provided is www.clocky.net.) In another article, a fellow issues a challenge to people to develop an inexpensive computer for blind kids. There's also an article for hobbyists who like to build replicas of "classic microcomputers from the 70s and early 80s" as they put it. There are instructions for turning a $10 single-use camera into a reusable digital camera... There are tools to drool over, if you're the sort to drool over new tools... There's an article called "A Fusion Reactor for the Rest of Us"... And there's lots more.

Please don't show this to anybody who reminds you of Tim "the Toolman" Taylor on the television show Home Improvement - or to anybody else with a badly skewed enthusiasm-versus-common-sense ratio. Otherwise, have fun.

Captain's Quarters: You Have To Break A Few Humans To Prevent An Omelette

Captain Ed of the Captain's Quarters blog has some information on recent Senate testimony by an animal rights activist who says straight out that he thinks it's OK to kill people who he thinks are causing harm to animals. I haven't had time to follow the links yet. No, more precisely, I haven't found the stomach to follow the links yet. If you're up to it, start here.

Photios: Carlo Maria Giulini - Rest in Peace

The blogger Photios recently wondered what had become of a conductor who had a large impact on his life years ago. He found that the man died just a few months ago. Carlo Maria Giulini was 91 when he died in northern Italy. He conducted in both Europe and America in a career that spanned several decades. He resigned from the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1985 to spend more time with his ailing wife, Marcella, who died in 1995.

The BBC has an artist profile on Giulini here.

Remembering good and brave men

Let some soldiers tell you about their fallen brothers.

Hat tip: A Rose By Any Other Name.

Update: There's a companion piece that ran October 31. See Heroes. The men being remembered: COL William Wood, CPT Michael Mackinnon, CPT Ray Hill, and SPC Shakere Guy. My condolences to their friends and families.

Update: Trey Jackson's blog has a related post: A Soldier's Letter From Iraq

Landmark Dresden, Germany, church rebuilt and reopened

Dresden's Frauenkirche, a Baroque church destroyed in World War II, has been rebuilt over the past few years, and was consecrated in late October. I'm impressed.

Landmark Dresden Church Completes Rise From the Ashes (Deutsche Welle)

Frauenkirche Restoration (Friends of Dresden)

Dresden consecrates famed church (BBC)

Frauenkirche - 'Dresden's miracle' (BBC)

Chronology of a landmark (Dresdner Bank)

I-90 still closed; crews working to open two lanes to traffic

A major mountain pass in Washington state is suffering from bad rock slides just now, which has meant the closure of an interstate highway. See here for the latest news. (Or try www.nwcn.com later.) See also Snoqualmie pass alternate routes for a map showing where the closure is, as well as recommended alternate routes. Part of the problem is that crews responding to the initial slide found that the hillside had big cracks and it looked like more of it was about to come down. So what was to be a clearing operation also became a securing project.

According to news reports, about 26,000 vehicles a day generally use Snoqualmie Pass this time of year. The hope is to get at least one lane of traffic open in each direction by tonight.

Thank Bush for Ben Bernanke (Bangkok Post)

Gotta love the Internet. How else could I read this, written by Kenneth Rogoff, a professor of Economics at Harvard University, as presented to a Bangkok readership?

The world may not know it, but we all dodged a bullet when George W. Bush nominated Ben Bernanke to succeed the all-powerful US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan. There were some positively scary names for a potential Fed chairman floating out of the White House, and I, for one, had no confidence in the outcome.

Instead, almost miraculously, we got an absolutely first-rate economist, a safe pair of hands to guide the global economy. Those of us who know Mr Bernanke view him as someone who has the experience, intellect and personality to sparkle in the position that he will assume in February.

Why is the job so important? Alan Greenspan is a great man, but it is a curious set of circumstances that has elevated the job of Fed chairman to Mount Olympus...

Full article

Yes, sir. A fellow with a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, plus real world experience, plus scores and scores of expert advisors - why, it's a miracle he made a good pick to lead the Fed. (Hee, hee.)

And I'm no economist, but is the Fed chairman actually all-powerful and up there with the gods? So to speak? I mean, I know he can greatly influence the economy, but really, I don't lay awake of nights hoping he doesn't take it into his head to give humankind a jostle or two.

Kidding aside, I'm delighted that there's at least one appointee out there who has professionals from across the political spectrum counting their blessings and celebrating their good luck. I have to agree that we seem to have lucked out with Bernanke's appointment.

And I hope Kenneth Rogoff will forgive my gentle jesting. If I worked at Harvard I'm not sure I'd have the guts to say anything nice about anyone remotely related to the Bush administration. I'm guessing that isn't necessarily a popular thing to do in a liberal stronghold right now...

A side note: Rogoff used to be a chess champion back before he became an economist. (He has some links to photos and articles in the bio linked in the previous paragraph.) This reminds me. I didn't mention it the other day, but Gambit, the Rex Stout book from which I lifted a quote the other day, revolves around chess players. I don't think you have to know chess to enjoy it, but I suspect that folks like Rogoff would notice some inside jokes that I just know must be in there but don't have the background to pick up.

USGS Reports Preliminary Wetland Loss Estimates for Southeastern Louisiana from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita transformed some 100 square miles of marsh to open water in southeastern Louisiana, according to preliminary estimates by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) based on an analysis of Landsat satellite data from September and October.

Future observations of Landsat imagery over the upcoming year will allow scientists at the USGS National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, La., to determine how much of the loss is permanent and how the marsh recovers. Although this early analysis of wetlands does not take into account some marsh recovery, indications are that much of the loss may be permanent. Some of the new areas of open water will likely become new lakes...

More

Watch for blogger in New York City Marathon

Flip, of the Suitably Flip blog, plans to be one of the about 37,000 runners in tomorrow's New York City Marathon. Says Flip:

So long as the thunderstorms that have been popping in and out of Sunday's forecast are not called for as of tomorrow afternoon (and if they do call for rain, I'm cashing in my '06 guaranteed entry and going to the see that Wal-Mart movie which is so certain to angry up my blood in a way the director didn't intend), keep an eye out for me on the course.

I'll be bib # 16600 and clad in heart-swellingly patriotic colors.

Update: Flip reports after the race: Abrupt Climate Change: NYC Now Hottest, Hilliest City on Earth. (He's joking. He's joking.)

Baghdad contractors go from dollars to dinars

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq (Army News Service, Nov. 4, 2005) -- Iraqi contractors supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom III are now counting dinars instead of dollars on payday.

Another milestone in Iraq’s economic development was reached Oct. 14 when a 3rd Infantry Division finance office issued the first payment in Iraqi currency while in theater.

Local vendors and contractors were previously paid in U.S. dollars. This is the first time in all the rotations of Operation Iraqi Freedom that a dinar check payment has been issued to local vendors and contractors within the Baghdad area of operations.

This is a huge step according to Maj. Richard Santiago, commander of 3rd Finance Company, 3rd Soldier Support Battalion, Division Support Brigade, who said paying locals in dinars benefits both the Iraqi people and Coalition Forces...

Full story

Did they say checks?

hat tip: Defend America

A Lady's Ruminations: A Lesson in Dairy Science

I take issue with a few of the definitions presented in this list, but it's not my list, and the parts that are good are rather good indeed. So, with minor reservations, here is how it starts:

Lesson in Dairy Science (no animals were maimed or killed during any part of this test)

DEMOCRATIC
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful.
Barbara Streisand sings for you.

REPUBLICANISM
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So?

SOCIALIST
You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.

COMMUNIST
You have two cows.
The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour.

Lady Jane's full post.

US Helicopter Flights Top 1000 in Pakistan

Here's a military milestone for you from United States Central Command:

Disaster Assistance Center Pakistan – U.S. military helicopter crews delivering relief aid to earthquake survivors in Pakistan’s remote mountain ranges have flown more than 1000 trips since beginning flight operations here Oct 11.

When helicopter flight operations ended for the day on Nov. 3, U.S. military pilots had flown 1,056 missions into Pakistan’s Kashmir and Northwest Frontier Provinces, a rugged mountainous region.

There are 24 U.S. military helicopters supporting Pakistani-led relief efforts. The U.S. Army has 17 CH-47 Chinooks and three UH-60 Blackhawks providing aid, while the U.S. Navy has two MH-53 Sea Stallions and two MH-60 Knighthawks.

More than 3,200 injured Pakistanis have been evacuated to medical facilities aboard U.S. military helicopters in the past 25 days. In addition, the amount of relief supplies delivered by U.S. military helicopters totaled more than 4 million pounds.

hat tip: Camp Katrina

Nifty Nero Wolfe quote

The author Rex Stout put some great lines in the mouths of some of his characters. This is from the book Gambit, the Bantam paperback edition, c.1962, 8th printing (1975), page 34. The detective Nero Wolfe is growing tired of a man named Mr. Hausman who is asking him unanswerable questions, like "how far can you be trusted?" From Wolfe's response:

...But this is fatuous. Do you hope to determine my quality by asking banal and offensive questions? You must know that a man can have only one invulnerable loyalty, loyalty to his own concept of the obligations of manhood. All other loyalties are merely deputies of that one.

Hmmmm.

Storm helps some NW ski resorts open early

Good news, bad news. The bad news is some passes and roads that generally close for the winter in Oregon and Washington are closed already (one of the entrances to Crater Lake National Park, for instance). The further bad news is that driving conditions are a bit dicey in much of the U.S. Northwest right now. The good news is that ski hills are opening one right after another right now, some for their earliest opening ever. News report from kgw.com.

I don't ski anymore, and haven't for years and years. But I love watching the faces of skiers light up this time of year.

We don't have a ski hill right around here, but we have hundreds of miles of snowmobile trails that volunteers keep groomed. Out-of-town snowmobile enthusiasts generally spend enough money at retail stores, repair shops, motels and restaurants to prevent the massive winter layoffs we used to have around here. Last year we didn't get enough snow at the right times and the economic impact was really impressive, in a very bad way.

Think snow!

New blog: Hans Rosling, writing from Sweden

Speaking of statistics, Hans Rosling, a professor of International Health at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, has just started a blog. His first post, October 29, says:

This blogg will be used to comment on how world development is presented in relation to the best available "facts", as well as to the uncertainty of these "facts".

In the sidebar, Professor Rosling relates some of his accomplishments and associations, among them:

Co-founder of Gapminder, a non-profit ICT-venture for increased use and understanding of UN statistics. Lecture on Global Change using animations from www.gapminder.org

At Gapminder it says:

OUR VISION:Making sense of the world by having fun with statistics!

Download and distribute free software for a world in motion.

At a wild guess, the Professor and I will probably have our differences of opinion, but anybody who launches his blog (after a brief intro), by politely requesting that UNICEF update its portrayals of Bangladesh, and then points out what a more accurate portrayal would be, well...

Rosling clearly has more respect for the UN than I do - and recommends contributing to UNICEF, which I used to do but have long since stopped doing. But, hey - if he can encourage the UN to hold itself to a higher standard, all the more power to him. Somebody needs to do it. And it looks like he's not going to be shy about pointing out when things aren't as bad as they used to be. (Yay! I am soooo tired of academics who insist upon painting the worst possible picture they can cobble together, based on "facts" they cherry-pick, twist or edit to suit their purposes, or conjure out of thin air.)

I should probably warn you that Gapminder, at present anyway, comes with pop-up ads that get past my pop-up screening devices. One of the ads was impossible to close out - at least I never figured it out - and I had to exit the website and try again. (Grrrr.) But if you can outmaneuver the ads, the animated charts I've looked at so far are an interesting - and easily readable - way to see how the UN looks at the world.

Social Science Statistics Blog: The Value of Control Groups in Causal Inference (and Breakfast Cereal)

OK, so I don't remember the last time I laughed out loud reading about anything related to proper statistical research methods. This did it.

hat tip: Katie at A Constrained Vision blog

House Votes To Block Land Seizure

Hah! State and local governments who liked Kelo have a reason to think twice. (Yay!)

(AP) Contending that the Supreme Court has undermined a pillar of American society, the sanctity of the home, the House overwhelmingly approved a bill Thursday to block the court-approved seizure of private property for use by developers.

The bill, passed 376-38, would withhold federal money from state and local governments that use powers of eminent domain to force businesses and homeowners to give up their property for commercial uses...

More, from CBS

Update: The Castle Coalition Media Center release. They note that this now goes to the Senate. Maybe my relief and rejoicing earlier today was premature? (That's what I get for relying on headlines as I skim over stories on a busy day... I should know better by now.) At any rate, H.R. 4128, the Private Property Protection Act of 2005, as passed by the House, cuts off economic development funds for two fiscal years to state and local governments that use eminent domain for private development. Hmmmm. Not as strong as I'd like, but it's something. And I really like the other provision being talked about from this bill - it prohibits the federal government from using eminent domain for private development. C'mon, Senate.

Camp Katrina: The New Camp Katrina

Good for "Specialist Van T."

He's expanding the mission of his blog (bold in original):

Check it out: Camp Katrina has a new look and a new motto! We’re still blogging the Katrina soldier stories you’ve come to love, but we’ve expanded the site to highlight the entire compassionate side of our military that is often overlooked . . . from hurricane rescue efforts to aid missions overseas.

The military’s primary responsibility will always be to win victory in battle, but we do much more than just kill people and break things. Camp Katrina is proud to highlight stories of our armed forces' humanitarian efforts here and around the world.

We at Camp Katrina believe that the United States military is the greatest defender of freedom and the most virtuous humanitarian force in the world. If you come across any stories, pics or news links that reflect this view, please give Camp Katrina a heads-up.

And Camp Katrina has a new address, too. You can still visit the blog at our original TypePad URL, or try our new address at www.campkatrinablog.com.

Commentary: El Salvador's Secret: Freedom and Opportunity Cure Poverty

Francisco Flores, former president of El Salvador (1999-2004), gave the keynote address at this year's Acton Institute annual dinner:

The important message is this: Fifteen years ago, El Salvador was destroyed by war, seven years ago by hurricanes, four years ago by earthquakes. Extremely poor, 15 years ago, some 60 percent of the population lived under the poverty line. The country was totally dependent on its traditional agricultural exports and unable to honor its financial obligations. Fifteen years ago, its infrastructure had collapsed: Roads, energy systems, water distribution, telecommunications.

Today, El Salvador is a different country. It has the most accelerated poverty reduction rate in Latin America. From 60 percent to 30 percent under the poverty line, El Salvador has reduced its poverty level by half in twelve years. Twenty-five percent of our population could not read nor write; now it is down to 12 percent. Infant mortality has dropped from 45 out of a thousand births to 24.

The unemployment rate has dropped from 13 percent to 6.5 percent. Interest rates have lowered from 30 percent in 1992 to 6.8 percent last year. El Salvador has the lowest inflation rate in Latin America...

[snip]

What is El Salvador’s secret? I believe that it is the systematic application of the concept of freedom to public policy....

Read the rest.

As of my post time, there was also an audio link available on the Acton Institute's home page, in the Press Room section, radio column.

Flores also talked about his own life:

In my own small and private world, this meant that, at the beginning of the conflict in 1977, my parents feared for our safety and, like most Salvadoran families, felt that our country had no future, and that we should construct our lives elsewhere.

For seven years, I tried to develop a sense of purpose through intellectual understanding. I lived here in the United States, England and in India for a brief period of time. I studied philosophy and political science principally, but also literature and history.

But knowledge can never quench our deeper thirst. Though the waters of the Charles River flowed so peacefully that October morning in Boston, and the fire of artillery raged endlessly in Central El Salvador as the army and the guerrillas sought control of the strategic Lempa River, I decided to go
back.

I decided to go back because I couldn’t accept being tossed by history at her whim. If I accepted the loss of my country, my life would become a consequence of the decisions others would take, whether in Cuba or Moscow, the United Nations or Washington.

I could certainly build my life abroad but it would not be a choice. It would be an acceptance of fate, and therefore a negation of freedom...

I was conscious I was trading safety for freedom, particularly when I had decided to be involved in the turmoil El Salvador was living.

But I must say that for the safety one gains by avoiding risk, a huge price is paid in the ever present insecurity of leading a life that is always on the defensive. Though it might be unsafe, there is a great sense of security in leading a life according to one’s conscience.

Update: Academic Elephant at Elephants in Academia has taken this post and built on it, at Another voice from Latin America. Be sure and see the updates.

Media myths and the war

The Opinion Journal article Baggage Claim: The myth of "suitcase nukes" by Richard Miniter is excerpted from Miniter's new book:


Disinformation: 22 Media Myths That Undermine the War on Terror

From the publisher (via Barnes & Noble):

In Disinformation, a veteran investigative reporter and bestselling author Richard Miniter debunks the myths of the left (and the right) with hard evidence, high-level interviews and on-the-ground reporting in more than a dozen countries.

Miniter also wrote:


Shadow War: The Untold Story of how Bush Is Winning the War on Terror


Losing Bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror