Science - is there nothing it won't do?

Two comics today that perfectly capture the hubris of science and engineering.


(via Savage Chickens)

I also like the contrast between normal person and doctor or engineer, it doesn't appear that you can be both.

(via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal)

Phillie and Michigan band together for All Star Game 2009 Final Vote

Careful readers will realize that the author of this blog is a Phillies fan but also a Detroit Tigers fan. Today is the last day of the All Star Game 2009 Final Vote and I have been exhorting both Phillies fans and Detroit Tigers fans to vote online at MLB.com. I have asked the Detroit fans to add Phillie Shane Victorino on the National League side to their Tiger Brandon Inge American league Vote and asking Phillie fans to add Inge when they vote for Victorino.

Right now Inge is leading the American League vote by 9 percentage points, but Victorino trails Pablo Sandoval by 2 percentage points. I suppose my and others linking of Inge and Victorino has been noticed at MLB.com. From the article -

"The latest voting alliance has been formed by the Tigers and Phillies organizations, two of baseball's most storied franchises. They are encouraging businesses located throughout Michigan and Pennsylvania to allow their employees time today and Thursday to vote for Inge and Victorino."

I hope it works. Brandon really deserves to be an All-Star, he has been having a great year and picking up the slack for his Detroit teammates. I also hear he is a really nice guy. Shane Victorino deserves the honor as well, for last year and this.

Please go vote for Inge and Victorino, you have until 4pm today.

Inge



Victorino



Vote today!

Once a century - a special time - 12:34:56 7/8/9

Remember that only today will it be:

12:34:56 7/8/9

What will you do at that second?

I am only 29% addicted to Twitter, which is to say, not very much.

How addicted to Twitter are you?

Created by The Oatmeal

...which is to say not really addicted to Twitter. I like it because I have a few local people and news outlets that I follow, for following NASA, especially NASA Wallops and the moon probes, and for some national news that I follow. For my own tweets, I usually just post a link to the stuff here that I think people would be interested in.

Hey Detroit Tigers fans go vote for Brandon Inge to be at the All Star Game

Hey Detroit Tigers fans, Please go vote for Brandon Inge of the Detroit Tigers to go to the All Star Game at MLB.com (ballot is first headline on righthand side) - he deserves it. Voting ends Thursday at 4pm.

If you don't have a National League favorite, please stringly consider adding Shane Victorino of the Phillies on the National league side of your ballot.

Hey Phillies fans - All Star Game Final Vote Information

Hey Phillies fans, when you vote for Shane Victorino to be an All-Star at MLB.com, please add your vote for Brandon Inge on the American League side, he really deserves it. The voting ends Thursday at 4pm so please get those votes in now.

Orange daylilies finally bloom

This very traditional orange daylily finally bloomed after almost 3 years of us being at this house from a clump that is near the creek.

I suppose they were either planted just before we got there and needed some time to grow to flowering stage. The other variable that changed in this uncontrolled experiment is that some of the trees on our side and on the other side of the creek that were shading this clump and others by the creek have fallen down and been removed. Thus it is sunnier in these locations than before.

The only reason I want to know what finally got them to bloom is I may want to encourage these plants in the future and need to duplicate the conditions. Time means just wait, but sun means choose the planting location carefully. Are there any experts out there with an explanation?

Independence Day fireworks in Wilmington Delaware

We had to watch the Wilmington, Delaware fireworks from Porter reservoir this year because, as we tried to drive into Wilmington, they had Martin Luther King Blvd closed and thus removed all access to parking. With a baby asleep in the back of the car and a high barrier placed before us we retreated to a high location north of the city to try to catch a glimpse of the highest fireworks and call it a night. He are some shots looking south, the green lights below are from the lights at Rt 202 and Augustine Cutoff.


Facing to the right (looking north) of where we finally saw the Wilmington fire works were someone else's that were shot off around 9:30, before Wilmington's at 9:45. Still don;t quite know who these belong to, but I had a better view of them. My guess is Wilmington Country Club, any Delawareans want to confirm or deny this?

This one looks like a red blood cell.


Happy Independence Day!

Brrrr it's cold today.

Verizon Fios TV has these widgets that can show sports updates or latest news or the weather. Today it was having some trouble, the high was going to be 77F and the low 63F but it was showing currently as 0F all day. Brrrrr.

Cheapskate single cracker packs

When did Zesta move to having single cracker packs instead of two crackers in each? I thought I had some factory rejects but here are two like that.

How much can a cracker cost vs. the packaging that this is cost effective?