Critical Reference Material
Make sure to file this away as Critical Reference For The Future:
SHODAN LIVES
Notes and links from @colemanm.
03.14.2011
01.30.2011
01.13.2011
12.23.2010
12.14.2010
12.13.2010
11.29.2010
11.22.2010
11.3.2010
10.29.2010
10.29.2010
10.26.2010
09.22.2010
09.17.2010
09.17.2010
Impression theme by Hello New York.
“The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.”
G.K. Chesterton
(Source: Wikipedia)
Undisciplined spending in the name of defense »
A Reuters op-ed piece critical of NGA.
It’s ridiculous to claim that Google creates the same product as NGA for a fraction of the cost and then “gives it away for free”… A flagrant misunderstanding of geospatial data and how it’s produced.
I only call attention to this article for these insane stats on NGA:
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has 16,000 employees — nearly as many as Google — and a “black” budget thought to be at least $5 billion per year. The NGA is building a new headquarters complex with the stunning price of $1.8 billion, nearly the cost of the Freedom Tower rising in Manhattan. That new headquarters, near Fort Belvoir, Virginia, will be the third-largest structure in the Washington area, nearly rivaling the Pentagon in size.
Inside China’s Ghost Towns
Some interesting satellite images here of massive cities and towns with almost no residents. Creepy.
“You’ve got to stop this war in Afghanistan.”
Richard Holbrooke’s last words. (via cajunboy)
RC planes over NYC
This is just plain amazing. Dudes attached HD video cameras to an RC airplane and flew it all around the urban environments of New York City.
The shots flying down the towers of the Verrazano Bridge and around the head of the Statue of Liberty are breathtaking.
Satellite imagery as a snapshot of the American economy’s health on Black Friday.
(Source: msnbc.com)
This Tract is a tool created by Michal Migurski to display US Census demographics in your current location by using geolocation support built in to modern browsers. Using geofencing techniques, it’ll show you data about each level of “subdivision” you’re in: census tract, county, state, etc.
He uses a neat combination of Census data, Yahoo’s YQL, Modest Maps, and OpenStreetMap to mash together the results.
Another great example of using cutting-edge mapping tech to make public domain data actually accessible the general public.
“There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money. Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost. Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch! Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government.”
Milton Friedman
Calling all amazing iOS developers
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If you like Florida, fantastic benefits, and awesome people, you should seriously check this out…
Our newest iPhone project, AllInspections, recently launched on the App Store and we’re excited to keep building and improving the product to help home inspectors save time and become more effective. Come help us make the app more fantasticker!
Bed Intruder Singer Turns Pitchman for Sex Offender Tracker App - http://mag.ma/andrew/827862
This = AMAZING.
The 72-hour Expert »
P.J. O’Rourke on his time in Afghanistan:
“…Traditionalism being one of the things that makes Afghanistan so hard for Americans to understand. We Americans have so many traditions. For instance our political traditions date back to the 12th-century English Parliament if not to the Roman Senate. Afghans, on the other hand, have had the representative democracy kind of politics for only six years. Afghanistan’s political traditions are just beginning to develop. A Pashtun tribal leader told me that a “problem among Afghan politicians is that they do not tell the truth.” It’s a political system so new that that needed to be said out loud.”
The US State Department is planning a new embassy in London, so they held a design competition to put together an energy-efficient, safe, and appealing architectural plan.
They recently announced the winner of the contest is a firm called KieranTimberlake in Philadelphia. Their design is a throwback to Middle Age siege defense tech, complete with motte-and-bailey and a moat:
“The reflecting pool evokes a castle moat. “To keep a medieval fortress secure, you needed to prevent people from taking pickaxes to the base or undermining it,” Rogers says. “A moat was one of the best ways to do that.” In olden days, they were also used to raise eels and fish for food. We imagine the US embassy will forgo that tradition.”
The Gator Flop, 1971.
Ever seen a football team totally forfeit a touchdown? As a Gator alum, I can’t believe I’d never seen this wild play:
In case you don’t know the story, here’s the short version: Miami and Florida were both having miserable seasons when they squared off at the Orange Bowl for the final game of the 1971 season. But the game still had plenty of juice — in part because of the schools’ longtime rivalry and in part because Florida quarterback John Reaves needed 343 passing yards to break Jim Plunkett’s NCAA career passing record of 7,544 yards.
With time winding down and Florida winning by a lopsided score of 45-8, Reaves was still 10 yards shy of the record. Miami had the ball and was slowly driving for a meaningless touchdown — too slowly for Florida’s taste. Fearing that time might expire before Reaves could get the ball back, the Florida defense repeatedly called timeout. But Miami kept creeping down the field.
That’s when the Florida defense played its trump card: As Miami snapped the ball from the Florida 8-yard line, the Gators players fell down on the job — literally. They simply flopped to the ground, giving Miami quarterback John Hornibrook an uncontested touchdown.
Read the full story including comments from some of the players involved.
(via @brezinger)
