There is news out about researchers who are working on an ultra-portable X-ray source that may be as small as a mobile phone. While the device would use 100,000 volts to create the X-rays, it needs only a 10 volt source which is nothing short of phenomenal. Now imagine if you or someone you know…

In the news lately has been discussion that in order to enable the US federal government to exceed its debt limit, due to the fact that there is opposition to increasing the limit, that the Secretary of the Treasury order the US Mint to issue a $1 trillion coin. I am appalled that this discussion,…

Please sign the Whitehouse.gov petition to make the metric system standard for the US. When one thinks about it, if humans cannot even manage something as basic as agreeing to use the same measurement system globally, how the hell can they manage to do more complex things?

There was an article at nytimes.com yesterday about digital globes. I decided to check and found some very cool videos. The above globe is created by a private company and is apparently very popular in schools in China right now. The one below by the NOAA. One cheap version of this could be a standard…

Often when considering lighting for various purposes there is a focus on color temperature. There are fancy new LED light systems which can adjust between very warm to very cool temperatures. On the surface that sounds great. But there are other characteristics of light which are important. All non-color light is emitted in a spectrum.…

This is something that came up more than once recently while reading about geology. In a few places on Earth there are these areas where millions of years ago massive amounts of igneous rock plumed up from the Earth’s magma. They are called large igneous provinces or LIPs. This is very different than regular land…

  The above computer is a quad-core system that can run Android or Ubuntu. It has built-in wireless and bluetooth, USB port, HDMI video port, and micro SD card slot. Wow. The cost is around $100. Also mentioned in news articles recently: Less powerful CPU than above model but still nice and only $36.

Saw this very fine black laquered writing desk. Unfortunately the scene does not show more detail such as the legs.

A really interesting article at bbc.co.uk contrasts the recent selection of top leaders in the United States vs. China, and asks whether in fact China is more together. Think about this: In China the choice for the top leaders happened in a very civilized kind of way. In comparison, in the United States, the process…

I’m reading now a complaint filed for unlimited civil, case # RG12635137 on 06/18/12 in Alameda County, California by district attorneys from multiple counties detailing severe and flagrant violations of environmental and privacy laws.  Walgreens is not the only company to have done this either.  There have been similar cases brought and won against Target,…