Category Archives: Soapbox

Size Does Matter

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If you’re like me, then size really does matter. I think my affliction started through my biking habit. Once you’ve gotten into biking — i mean real into it so that you spend more money than any normal person would ever spend on a bike (which for most people is probably in the $100-$400 range) — it is easy to get sucked into a world where grams matter. Yes that’s right: smaller, faster, lighter is the biker’s mantra. Shave a gram here and ounce there and soon you will flying down the road faster… unencumbered!

Now the funny thing with us bikers is that we often overlook the heaviest thing on the bike in our search for weight savings: the big guy riding it. Trust me, you quickly get to a point where it is cheaper and easier to lose the next ounce yourself… hmm poly-carbon alloy upgrade: $5000… eating less donuts: free… looking less chunky in those biker shorts: priceless.

Two other biker oversights while I’m on a roll. i have to shake my head at the people that trade in a comfortable bike seat to get the lighter weight “racing” seats (read sitting on a hollow metal pole). Then these same people trade in their normal/spandex shorts for special biking shorts with a gel seat. Ah, HELLO, all you did was move the weight to your butt — and most people consider that a bad thing! No offence J Lo. The other thing that I’ve seen on many an expensive bike is 3 or 4 water bottles. Yes that’s right water which weighs 2.2 pounds for every liter or an ounce for every extra 28ml of H20. Trust me 2.2 pounds can equal 2.2 GRAND on some bikes.

Needless to say this is a rant about size not bikes and so i will get to the point. Below is quick reference to the size of some of my products of choice. With dimensions and weight for easy comparison to new products as they come out and attempt to de-throne these as the smallest, the lightest, the best!

Fiery Rhetoric 9/11

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Michael Moore, a Democratic activist, has just released a new movie called “Fahrenheit 9/11”. Fox News has an article about some of the “artistic licenses” Moore took in his piece. In addition, President Clinton’s press secretary has come out and countered Moore’s attack about President Bush’s response to the news while in front of Florida classroom. According to him not only did President Bush handle the situation properly, no one else could have handled it any better. A statement that the 911 commission agrees with.

I was most dishearted to read in my local paper some quotes from movie goers. Things like “Well, I thought that President Bush did a good job with 9/11, but then I saw this movie and I can’t believe how bad he did…”. Guys its a MOVIE. A MOVIE! I just went and saw Spiderman 2, but I don’t really think that Peter Parker saved the city from fusion reactor explosion — sheese.

I think I liked it better when Democrats simply bought votes or had dead people voting for them. I mean sure it’s more corrupt to do such things than to simply sway people with your media machine, but at least it isn’t as depressing as realizing how many people can be completely swayed politically by what they saw in a movie.

Thanks Dre

Dark Matter Still MIA

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” Nature.com, PhysicsWeb, and the BBC all report on the latest results from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search. ‘The most powerful search yet for the Universe’s missing matter has come up empty handed, contradicting an earlier study that claimed to have seen new particles.’ ‘A favoured theory is that the dark matter consists of Wimps (weakly interacting massive particles) about a thousand times more massive than a proton, one of the particles found in an atom’s nucleus… on the rare occasions a Wimp strikes an ordinary atom, the effect should be noticeable.’ ‘Writing in the Physical Review Letters, the team says that while a detection has yet to occur, there is now a better idea of how much dark matter must exist.’ They ‘hope to improve the sensitivity of the experiment by another factor of 20 over the next few years.'” — timothy (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/05/05/2039206&mode=thread&tid=126&tid=134)

“The theory of dark matter is based on the assumption that the basic properties of the Universe have never changed over time. If the intrinsic properties of space itself HAVE changed significantly, then there is no need to postulate such a thing as dark matter. Scientists are very reluctant to accept new data that shakes their preconceived pet ideas to their foundations. It took over 200 years after Roemer first measured a finite light speed, for the majority of scientists to accept the fact that light did not get instantaneously from point A to point B, as was the belief for centuries. In the same way, the majority of scientists today refuse to even consider the idea that some very fundamental “constants” may have changed dramatically since the beginning of time. For example, the cause for the “Red Shift” of distant star light is traditionally attributed to the Doppler effect, and in light of that INTERPRETATION of the cause for an observed fact, (the shifted light) all sorts of cosmological observations are very difficult to explain. Humans (including scientists) like to assume that certain things stay the same for all time, but that is a fervently desired wish based on faith, not observed fact. It seems that in the physical universe, there is nothing as constant as change! AAW” — arminw Arminw, You point out the huge assumption whenever historical facts are attempted to be gleened from current data which is called Uniformitarianism. (Uniformitarianism, is the belief in the Uniformity Principal which states: that everything observed today is uniform with the past and therefore experiments done in the present can give answer to the past.)I believe that another fundamental assumption has been overlooked with regards to Dark Matter and that is: the Big Bang.

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Where Is The Time?

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I’ve been asked when I have the time to think about all the stuff that I put on this site. Which is funny ’cause I haven’t even had a chance to put forth my views on Capitalism and economic reform, how we should deal with the existence of a Higher Power, or how to end hunger in the United States…

I guess the short answer is when don’t I have time?… A cryptic but accurate response that i will attempt expound upon. WARNING: This will probably get long-winded so don’t say i didn’t warn you.
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MS vs Linux

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Well after several years of losing server market share to Linux, Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft finally mentioned the open source “problem” in his annual strategy memo to employees.

“While the noncommercial model may lead to many flavors of software, getting broad, consistent innovation requires coordination across many technology components. In the event of needed enhancements or fixes, the Linux development community, no matter how well intentioned, simply cannot advance Linux the way we can – and must – innovate in Windows.” — Steve Ballmer I’m sorry: ” broad, consistent innovation “…. I think Mr. Ballmer has forgotten the definition of innovate(tion):innovate
\In”no*vate\
1. To begin or introduce (something new) for or as if for the first time.
2. To change or alter by introducing something new; to remodel; to revolutionize.

There is NO such thing as CONSISTENT INNOVATION. You can’t create something out of nothing on a schedule… you can’t revolutionize every tuesday…

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