blivet 2.0

07/29/2010

More Things in the Past

Filed under: History,Trivia — Hal @ 12:16 am

Vincent Van Gogh committed suicide on this day in 1890.

07/28/2010

It Happened Today, 153 Years Ago

Filed under: History,Technology,Trivia — Tags: — Hal @ 3:28 am

The first oil well was drilled on this day, in 1857. Now, we’re hooked like cheap junkies.

07/25/2010

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-25

Filed under: General — Hal @ 3:00 pm

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07/18/2010

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-18

Filed under: General — Hal @ 3:00 pm

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07/15/2010

Superhuman: the Incredible Savant Brain

Filed under: Geek,Science — Hal @ 5:36 pm

Via Boing Boing

Superhuman: the Incredible Savant Brain.

Infographic by Smarter.org

07/12/2010

Ambercat: A superior climate proxy to Amberat?

Filed under: Archaeology,Climate,Desert West,Geology,Humor — Tags: , , , — Hal @ 12:22 pm

One of the tools to reconstruct climate history in the Great Basin and North America Deserts (Mojave, Sonoran, etc.) are packrat middens. From the Wikipedia article on packrat middens:

Pack rats are known for their characteristic searching of materials to bring back to their nests creating an ever expanding collection known as a “midden” for its messiness. In natural environments, the middens are normally built out of sticks in rock crevices or caves for protection from predators. In the absence of crevices or caves, the middens are often built under trees or bushes. The pack rats will also use plant fragments, animal dung and small rocks in building the nest. The vast majority of the materials will be from a radius of several dozen yards of the nest. The pack rats urinate in the midden; sugar and other substances in the urine crystallizes as it dries out, creating a material known as amberat, cementing the midden together.

There are some amusing (or sickening, depending on how black your humors are) tales of Anglo explorers eating amberat, supposing it was some sort of desert bounty. After a couple of days (really) they quickly they were mistaken. shudder

Previously unexamined, perhaps because century- and millennial- depth deposits are seldom, if ever, allowed to accumulate, are the feline urine cemented deposits of ambercat that occur in cat litter boxes. Judging from the rapidity and volume that can be generated in geologically insignificant timescales (24 – 36 hours with multiple felines contributing to the ‘midden’) these proxies could be valuable for climatic reconstruction if deposits could be identified prior to the radiocarbon ‘recent.’

Absent its scientific value, I would personally be overjoyed to discover that ambercat had some sort of commercial value as our felines are apparently ‘top producers’ of ambercat, indeed in commercially viable quantities. I await your offers. There is a bagged sample at the curb right now.

07/11/2010

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-11

Filed under: General — Hal @ 3:00 pm
  • RT @DiscoverMag: How do researchers know what ancient climate was like? Oysters, ice cores, ridiculously tough pollen. http://bit.ly/9JIqlJ #
  • RT @ebertchicago: Arlo Guthrie's birthday. "You can get anything you want, at Alice"s restaurant." http://j.mp/bP8Ud6 #
  • RT @nat_parks_news: ATVs threatening 10 Utah 'treasures' – Salt Lake Tribune http://dlvr.it/2RpkF #
  • RT @KatrinaNation: Just spent evening with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis & Carl Perkins. Heaven. Love that devil music. #
  • RT @FrankConniff: The next time life gives me lemons, I'm going to throw them at Sharron Angle – http://tiny.cc/k18tk #
  • RT @joshtpm: Must Read: Sen. Vitter caught red-handed lying in today's press conf. our reporters dug up docs 2 prove it http://tpm.ly/bRAkmi #
  • RT @ezraklein: BREAKING: Existence of confirmation bias confirms author's bias! http://bit.ly/a94Gaf #
  • RT @KatrinaNation: Petraeus argues US's uncritical defense of Israel has incrsingly bcme threat to US interests in Mideast/Is Obama listeng? #
  • RT @ebertchicago: John McCain: Sarah Palin qualified to be president but Elena Kagan not fit for Supreme Court. #
  • RT @KatrinaNation: Rove is 1 to watch/ He's really running the RNC & raking in corp $ through his operations. #
  • RT @owillis No, you’ve got it all wrong. When the Dow goes up, it’s because of Reagan’s 1986 tax reform bill. #
  • RT @kcm74: RT @jeremyscahill The US should hire that German octopus to find bin Laden. Him and #GaryFaulkner = unstoppable #
  • RT @AlterNet: Republicans Want as Many Unemployed People as Possible, Because They Think It Will Get Them Elected: http://is.gd/dj9hq #
  • RT @FrankConniff: Lindsay Lohan regrets the "F**k U" on her nails and vows to never again get a manicure from David Mamet. #
  • New follower David Curtis @curtis4governor Green Party candidate for Nevada Governor. Welcome! Let's work… #
  • need so add: Carl Sagan: #demonhauntedworld #
  • Q for discuss: r we sliding into new 'Dark Ageâ„¢' since the mid-1980s? Internet tubes (not trucks!) notwithstanding. Vision seems restricted. #
  • Sweet! discovered fav author @tobiasbuckell on the twitter machine. via another deep friend @demiller #linkage #
  • I have apparently 'Rate limit exceeded' on #TweetDeck which I can fix by setting an API option that does not exist! #fail #explitivedeleted #
  • Anyone else having problems with TweetDeck updating? #tweetdeck #
  • RT @wikileaks Only guy jailed 4 Iran-Contra was guy who stole John Poindexter Street sign. Now copter massacre whistleblower instead of crew #
  • High temps in Las Vegas, NV; Tucson, and Phoenix, AZ same as in New York, NY. #weirdweather #fortean #
  • RT @dangerousmeta: RT @vowe: The fundmentl cause of trouble is that in mrdn world, stupid are cocksure while intelligent are full of doubt. #
  • RT @ebertchicago: Mullets decreed illegal in Iran. At last, something we agree on. #
  • RT @thinkprogress: Angle Compares Herself To Lincoln, Admits She ‘Softened’ Her Positions After The Primary http://thkpr.gs/9W9Hzb #bscrazy #
  • RT @NASA: Oil spill near the Mississippi Delta: View from NASA's Terra satellite taken on the 4th of July. http://bit.ly/d3ExFJ #oilspill #
  • RT @nat_parks_news: Melting ice reveals ancient atlatl dart – Christian Science Monitor http://bit.ly/bZlHvq #archae #
  • RT @NASA: Explore a futuristic lunar settlement in #NASA #039;s new online video game Moonbase Alpha, available now at http://go.usa.gov/OTB #
  • RT @davidsirota: That Back to the Future thing from yesterday was a massive hoax http://bit.ly/a3vu6T Damn the Internets!!! #
  • RT @thinkprogress: AR cop killers were ‘sovereign citizens,’ rt-wing extremists who believe they R exempt from law. http://thkpr.gs/bI8Xz2 #
  • RT @KatrinaNation: Whn comes 2 ensuring that every American gets fair shake, modern conservatism has contributed essentially nil/A. Bacevich #
  • RT @ebertchicago: OMG! Doc Brown's DeLorean just materialized under the clock at Marshall Field's! #
  • RT @neilhimself: @hanshaw: local Boy Scout has started a petition to bring back the merit badge for beekeeping. http://bit.ly/cfYbwz #
  • RT @davewiner: Dow Repeats Great Depression Pattern: Charts. (Maybe they'll start listening to Krugman soon.) http://r2.ly/4bxk #hopeso #
  • RT @canislatrans: New: Carly Fiorina is a lying, anti-environmentalist sack of crap http://coyot.es/x2N #
  • RT @wilw: … in other words, don't be a dick. –On the occasion of his 10,000th post #
  • Science Daily: North America's first peoples more genetically diverse than thought, MtDNA genome analysis reveals http://j.mp/9GqRHz #

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07/06/2010

“We Want Our Jobs Back!”

Filed under: Activism,Humor,Politics — Tags: , , — Hal @ 1:11 pm

We Want Our Jobs Back! graphic

More of Keith’s Left-of-center toons can be found here. Seen at BartCop.

Addendum: I have no commercial interest in this. I just like Tucker’s stuff.

07/04/2010

Happy Independence Day, 2010

Filed under: Activism,General,History,Music — Tags: , — Hal @ 2:03 pm

Happy U.S. Independence Day, everyone!

06/27/2010

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-27

Filed under: General — Hal @ 3:00 pm
  • RT @buzzflash: We Thought That We Were Electing a Prius, and Got a Tank Instead: The Last Gasps of Empire http://bt.io/FVLS Karlin for BF #
  • RT @daveweigel: Getting an exceptionally good sense of who my friends are today. #sotrue #
  • Today, in the past, Custer died for your sins. #greasygrass #littlebighorn #

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