Now THAT's something to ponder

Very roughly speaking, action is what you get from entropy when you allow time to become an imaginary number.

From a very fun read, "How Physics Will Change—and Change the World—in 100 Years," by Frank Wilczek.

(h/t: RC deWinter)

Line of the Day: 2015-06-28

I wage civilization, motherfucker.
    -- Thers

Usually, cosmic rays are the scapegoat of last resort, aren't they?

Let the image rehabilitation begin!

Eight days of silence followed until, as engineers expected, a high-speed charged particle zipping through space fortuitously scrambled part of the computer’s memory and caused the computer to restart.

Emphasis added.

Also, unfurled selfies!

Glad we got that cleared up

Global airlines announced on Tuesday a new guideline that recommends even smaller carry-on bags … The guideline, which is not binding … While details of how the guideline will be put into effect are murky, and would vary from airline to airline …  … The trade group says the new guideline will not necessarily replace each airline’s rules on bag size, but gives them a uniform measurement that “will help iron out inconsistencies.”

It's hard to love airlines. They have so much baggage.

Snort

Pretty funny caption on Deadspin, beginning:

Michelle Rhee attempts thought leadership ...

Main point of the story surprised me: I did not know that there's all this hate for Kevin Johnson. (I also did not know the two were married.)

In conclusion, charter schools still seem terrible every time reality intrudes.

Line of the Day: 2015-06-05

Never have I been so grateful to have been so wrong.

... and ...

We are witnessing the emergence of a post-terror generation, one that rejects a worldview defined by a singular tragedy.

From an op-ed of considered hope, by one of my heroes, Edward J. Snowden.

Feel-good story

How can you not like this?

The stars of the “The Big Bang Theory” will be putting their very big paychecks to good use. Actors on the sitcom, as well as members of the crew and the CBS show’s co-creator Chuck Lorre, have created a scholarship at the Univerity of California, Los Angeles, for science students seeking financial aid.

The Big Bang Theory Scholarship Endowment has already raised more than $4 million, including gifts from the stars Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Johnny Galecki, and Mayim Bialik. Scholarships will be awarded to 20 low-income science students this fall, and five students per year going forward.

And I know you'll like this, from the same show, some time ago.

Deep thought

Are pathetic and antipathetic antonyms?

So, maybe one takeaway would be ...

... to vote for members of Congress who will fund space watch programs?

This level of ocean evaporation is commensurate with atmospheric temperatures rising to over 500 degrees Celsius for a few weeks after the impact, and remaining above 100 degrees Celsius for over a year. That’s what models have predicted would occur for collisions with asteroids 50 to 100 kilometers across.

In fairness, this happened three and change billion years ago, and as we are all frequently told, the Earth is only 6000 years old, so ... not to worry.

Reminder: 100°C is the boiling point of water. 212°F if you're keeping score in Fahrenheit.

As I've long said, ...

... we humans aren't "killing the planet." The Earth will shrug off any- and everything we throw at it. What we are doing, and what we should be concerned about, is fouling our own nest.

“Everything on earth is biodegradable on a geological time scale,” Mr. Wilson said. “It’s not biodegradable in a meaningful time frame.”

The perfect dog for cat lovers

Judd nodded. “I had a dog that was half coyote,” she said. “I lived in New Mexico.” She continued, “That dog could climb over anything. It was the only dog I ever had to tell to get off the refrigerator.”

(source)

Line of the Day: 2015-05-07

The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer.
    -- attributed to Ward Cunningham

Line of the Day: 2015-05-04

Maybe, just maybe, that was a sustainable argument four decades ago, but at this point it should be obvious that middle-class values only flourish in an economy that offers middle-class jobs.
    -- Paul Krugman

Line of the day: 2015-05-03

Time and complexity are the best friends of a determined distorter of events.
    -- Neil Lewis, via TBogg

Found it!

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MORE »

Closing line

Sigh.

Other notable sites that were dropped include: Privacy.gov, Technology.gov, Space.gov, Govworks.gov, Results.gov, and ExpectMore.gov.

Sure, you know perigee and perihelion. But what about peribothron?

If I were a cynical man, I might worry that this would become the new biz buzzword for opportunistically gaining proximity to the Big Boss.

Fortunately, I am only about the science.

(h/t: Phil Plait, vaguely. Weird to see a site give access to the news and charge for the blogs. Smells like TimesSelect to me, but what do I know?)

Line of the Day: 2015-03-30

I don’t make much of a distinction between genius design and engineering and athletic performance and great works of art—it’s all the human nervous system seen from the inside out.
    -- Michael Mann

Your moment of incongruity

In the parking lot, man with a Lord and Taylor shopping bag says to his wife, "Do you want to go to the Dollar Store?"

Definition of the Day

... progressives (the term of choice for high-maintenance liberals) ...     -- TBogg

Not that we actually expect Congress to DO anything ...

... but, just sayin:

The group that Pew finds most underrepresented on the Hill is those without a religious affiliation -- comprising 20 percent of the public and 0.2 percent of Congress.

Eh, what's two orders of magnitude of under-representation among friends? Have some pie.

(h/t: ProPublica, via Cyrus Farivar RT)

Not THE Dooley Womack!

I think Bouton's angst may finally have been beaten:

Alexey Shved, who had some good, subtle advanced statistics, was promptly traded for [blah, blah] and the rights to a Ukrainian playing in Spain.

Worst modifier ever

Dunce cap and a dope slap for R. J. Ellory.

Briefly noted: it's now apparently too large for a specific number

Tossed off, almost as an aside, in an AP bit about Florida (Florida!) being overruled by the liberal activist United States Supreme Court:

... and gay marriages are occurring in about three dozen states.

My heterosexual bachelorhood is being soooo threatened by these people.

Just plain good news

"Good News on Energy," that is. Read it and congratulate yourself for all the little steps you've been taking.

Highlights?

... total energy use in the United States peaked in 2007 and has trended downward since. ...  economic growth decisively outpaced any increases in energy use over recent decades ...  Improvements in energy efficiency over the last 40 years have done more to meet growth in America’s energy needs than the combined contributions of oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear power. ...  Since 2000, growth in electricity use has dropped well below growth in the population ...  Moreover, oil consumption by vehicles, homes and businesses is down more than 12 percent from its 2005 peak ...  More than one-eighth of our electricity supply is now in the “renewable” category, which is growing faster than any other.

Keep up the good work. We've got a ways to go yet.

Fortunately, it was early in the morning when I voted, so I just went with another coffee and cigarette

Fellow in-stater Thers pretty much nailed it last fortnight, though:

For governor I have Andy Cuomo running against some nondescript GOP meathead. "Slab Angioplasty," I think he's called. Or "Buck Fistorino." Something like that. Time was, and it was not so long ago, the NY GOP could have run a similar meathead to the populist left of Cuomo and made this a race, but these are simpler, shittier times. Nobody likes Andy Cuomo, probably even his immediate family; he has all the personal charm of someone who would rather hard-sell you a timeshare than just fucking pass you the salt. Talk of Andy Cuomo aspiring to higher office is absurd; he's not quite as much of a prissy ass as Giuliani was, but he's not really a different person, unless you squint hard. Fuck him. For the House I get to choose between Richard Hanna and nobody. I vote gin.

Line of the Day: 2014-11-13

The essay's other distinguishing feature is a higher-than-usual count of intentional jokes, most of which sound like P.J. O'Rourke failing a competency hearing.
    -- Roy Edroso

Yeah. Kinda mean. Until you realize it's about Jonah Goldberg.

You always knew the Republicans could be summed up in a cartoon, right?

An excerpt from Brian McFadden's latest.

Droll is always good

From a summary of yet another gambling operation that, shockingly, has failed to deliver on its sellers' hype, a brilliant bit of just-the-facts from Jesse McKinley and Charles Bagli, and props to whoever did the layout, too:

The reality has been far less rosy. Seven years after opening, the Mount Airy Casino Resort has fewer than half of the hotel rooms envisioned by developers, and a third of the slot machines promised in news releases. It has generated about half of the slot revenue forecast by Pennsylvania officials, and little economic spillover has occurred outside the resort. Expansion plans have long since been shelved. The much-heralded charitable foundation has raised a grand total of $1, federal filings show.

Those funds have not been distributed.

Not to worry, though! The next four casinos are sure to fix all the things!

P.S. Aside to Gov. Cuomo: Your father was once courageous enough to call legalized gambling -- lotteries, in his case -- a cowardly attempt by politicians to balance the budget on the backs of poor people.

Gotta love the Goog

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Try it here.