Category: Random

I normally use the NOAA site to get my weather information. I pay taxes, and my tax money does go to pay for the NOAA and NWS. And it doesn’t have any ads, either. Just the weather in a simple and easy to read format.

I did notice this on Weather Underground – combining Google Maps with personal weather stations that upload data. The result is pretty neat. Not terribly useful, but still neat.

I was gassing up my car yesterday for $2.269 a gallon, amazed by how quickly the price of gas has come down. According to the AAA (as of 11/13/05), the average price of premium (turbochargers like premium) was around $3.30 a gallon just a month ago. Of course, there are several factors at play – lower demand, increased supply, warm weather, even perhaps public and congressional scrutiny.

Obviously, this is a good on our wallets. I’m sure we’ve all heard of the horror stories concerning SUV drivers spending over $100 to fill their tank when gas prices were at their highest during the summer. Well, when you buy a vehicle that gets 15 miles to the gallon, you’re going to be much more sensitive to higher gas prices. And the relief will be much greater when prices go down. My big question: Will people learn from this experience and demand more fuel efficient vehicles? All it took was a major hurricane to hit just the right spot, and we had gas stations running out gas, wildly fluctuating prices, and talk of gas rationing. At least, that’s the way it was here.

I fear that we will learn nothing of the experience, and the same thing will happen again. What do you think?

Forbes has a section where you can send an e-mail to someone and have it sent up to 20 years from now. Of course, this assumes you’re going to have the same e-mail address in 20 years. That might be a big assumption.

If you want to do this, you have until November 30.

What would you want to tell yourself in 20 years?

I’ve started a new blog about dumb crook news. I hear about this kind of stuff on the radio once in a while, and it’s almost always funny to listen to.

If you hear (or commit) anything that sounds like it would go on dumb crook news, let me know.

This site has a lot of really neat simulations where you can play with different parameters. The math involved in each is also shown, but I wasn’t really looking at the the math behind it, it was just neat to see everything in action.

I like the roller coaster simulations best. Make sure you have Java enable when looking at the site.

So this is what beer looks like under a microscope. This is my kind of science. They look really neat, almost like fractals.

Thanks to Susan for pointing out this bizzare story.

Here’s the quick summary. Danish Air Force flies close to ground, scares reindeer named Rudolf to death, literally. Reindeer is part of Christmas celebration used by guy that plays is none other than Santa. Santa complains, gets reimbursed for Rudolf, everyone is happy.

A choice quote: “We got a letter from Santa complaining about his reindeer’s death and looked into it seriously.” If I got a letter from Santa accusing me of killing a reindeer, I would seriously look into it as well.

This year marks 50th anniversary of Kermit the Frog. I fondly remember the Muppet Show, and always wonder why it doesn’t come back on TV. That was a wholesome show that appealed to most everyone. I remember a kid I went to school with did a great impression of the Swedish Chef for a talent show in 7th grade. Rubber chickens were flying everywhere.

As a way to recognize the anniversary, the post office released a series of stamps. Who is your favorite muppet?