Sir Edmund Hillary hanging out with me on a Saturday evening …
All posts by cb
Status Update
So, what’s going on with Contrafactual?
Basically, I’m getting serious about The Nudist War. I’m revising it with the intent of having something that would be in a better format to be publishable. I am re-reading each ‘Day’, fixing typos, fixing the formatting, and adding some additional content. I have scheduled the release of a new ‘Day’ for every Sunday and those will continue out into the future. I will keep the old ‘Day’s for historical reference, but you will need to ‘search’ for them.
To my old readers, I apologize for the delay in getting the new ‘Day’s out, but this is something I had to do. I invite you to start from the beginning of The Nudist War, it will be familiar, but I have made some minor changes.
To my new readers, I hope you will enjoy The Nudist War it is a zombie novel … with a twist.
Thank you again for all of your readership and following in the past and I hope that I can continue to entertain you in the future.
cb
Norwegian π-rat
The music playing in the Russian dashcam video was from the group “Two Steps From Hell”. I link to a post about them in this post about TSFH epic tune called Norwegian Pirate. The reblogged post is from last August.
If you haven’t seen it before ‘it’s new to you.’ 🙂
Yarrrr … Cat-Beard the Norwegian π-rat has a theme song 🙂
An email of a Russian dashcam video leads to the discovery of music by Two Steps From Hell and their Archangel album.
Song # 13 is Norwegian Pirate:
It is currently my 3.14159th favorite song of all time.
Driving in Russia
Déjà vu
With the current weather in the North East of the U.S., I though it might be interesting for my new followers to see what ‘real’ driving is like.
Enjoy
I just got this in an email. I spent the better part of the ’90s working off and on in Siberia. Today Russian drivers mostly have dashboard videos. This is from the site vk.com/dashboard Auto Video. The title, Второй день рождения, translates as “Last Christmas”.
I really like the background music.
cb
Scheduling
Every cloud has a sliver lining
I’m not talking about the cloud, I’m talking about real clouds … metaphorically. Bad things can have positive aspects.
Someone stole all my wife’s credit cards. But I haven’t reported it because he’s spending less than she did.
OK, it’s an old joke. No one stole my wife’s credit cards.
The cloud in question is the problems I documented in previous blogs concerning the 3.9 release of Automattic’s iPhone App.
In learning to compensate for the timestamp issue, I discovered scheduling.
Now that 3.9.1 is out, I am using it heavily. I have already scheduled through TNW – Day 45 every Sunday into the future.
I can also schedule in the future, save, and preview seeing it exactly how it will be … without your ever seeing it until I have discovered every last typo (well in theory at least).
I am writing this at 10:30 PM CST (UTC -6) on February 12, but it will post as shown below.
Prior art and patent trolls
John Watkinson is an expert witness and on many occasions has had to deal with patent litigation. Here he describes the application of ideas in the art of invention both historically and currently from Galileo to patent trolls.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/15/tales_from_an_expert_witness_prior_art_and_patent_trolls/
Look Daddy
Look at me
WordPress for iOS 3.9.1 Released
Yes!
WordPress for iOS 3.9.1 is out and now available to download from the App Store.
Some of the fixes included in this version are:
- Added: Ability to dismiss commenting by tapping on the background.
- Fixed: The last tab you selected is now loaded when returning to the app.
- Fixed: Timezone is now correctly preserved after updating a post.
- Fixed: You can now add links to longer posts.
- Various other improvements.
Full list of changes in version 3.9.1.
What’s next?
We are currently hard at work on the next major version of the app (4.0) where the major feature will be changing the stats feature to be completely native, which means they will load faster and look great too. For a sneak peek of what’s coming, take a look here.
A huge thanks to the contributors who worked on this release:@koke, @sendhil , @astralbodies, @koke,
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Thank you …
I couldn’t have done it without you.
Transparent Aluminum
Apple’s Arizona plant could make ‘unprecedented’ amounts of sapphire
http://m.cnet.com/news/apples-arizona-plant-could-make-unprecedented-amounts-of-sapphire/57618632
1986
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transparent_aluminum#Transparent_aluminum
[Transparent Aluminum] was notably mentioned in the 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Panels of ultra-thick acrylic glass were needed to construct water tanks within their ship’s cargo bay for containing two humpback whales and tons of water. However, the Enterprise crew, without money appropriate to the period, found it necessary to barter for the required materials. Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott exchanges the chemical formula for transparent aluminum for several sheets of the material from a manufacturer called Plexicorp. When Dr. Leonard McCoy informs Scott that giving Dr. Nichols the formula is altering the future, the engineer responds, “Why? How do we know he didn’t invent the thing?”
From MOVIECLIPS.com:
2013
MERRIMACK, N.H., Nov. 4, 2013 — GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:GTAT) announced that it has entered into a multi-year supply agreement with Apple Inc. to provide sapphire material. GT will own and operate…
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Cool, thanks!
Re: my previous post.
Email reply from John Scalzi
Cool, thanks!
JS
Woo Hoo
Cool, thanks! So much in so little. So terse. So Scalzi.
…
So I sent John Scalzi the following email
Hi John,
Attached is the second post from the blog I started last month. I blame you.
Cheers,
Chris Bergman (aka cat-beard)
PS I have been managing to post semi-daily and already have a small following.
with my second ever post attached (John Scalzi)
What great four-week anniversary present. 🙂
Cool, thanks! JS … YES!
John Scalzi
Déjà vu … All over again.
While I revise The Nudist War, I will leave you with a blast from the past.
This blog is currently dedicated to John Scalzi. He is the reason I am writing this and as such deserves some of the blame for what I may soon be inflicting upon you, my dear readers. For those of you who do not know of John Scalzi, I direct you to his blog Whatever and his Wikipedia page. There you will find more info on him than I could ever hope to catalog here.
Scalzi is an accomplished professional writer (by his own account he makes a good living at it). I discovered him via Red Shirts and continued on through the Old Man’s War series. If you like sci-fi you probably already know of him. I highly recommend him. His books and eBooks are available at all of the usual places.
In addition to writing sci-fi and non-fiction, he is one of the web’s earliest bloggers. His blog Whatever
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The Nudist War
This is the beginning of a serialized novel. I hope you like it. Portions of The Nudist War were previously published as the Day 42 series.
Copyright © 2014 by Christian Bergman, All rights reserved.
All people, places, and events are fictional … except when they aren’t.
The Nudist War
Would real Zombies wear clothes? The answer could go either way. But depending on the circumstances surrounding the Zombification, the answer could very easily be no. If the Zombification occurred to a hospitalized subject after a period of illness, the subject would be wearing at most a hospital gown. Anyone who has worn a hospital gown knows how easily they fall off. If the subject turned at home, they might be wearing little or no clothing. Either way, once an item of clothing fell off … or was ripped off … it is unlikely that it would be replaced. It is even possible that a newly turned Zombie would preferentially rip it’s clothes off because they were foreign and unnatural.
The incidents below really happened. A quick internet search will readily confirm this. Might this not give us an inkling of how the Zombie Apocalypse begins?
• • •
Miami, FL May 26, 2012
A naked man was shot and killed by police after attacking a homeless man; chewing off most of his face, his nose, and one of his eyes. Dubbed the ‘Miami Zombie’ and the ‘Causeway Cannibal’ he sparked a local concern that the Zombie Apocalypse was at hand. This prompted the CDC to release a statement downplaying the reality of any Zombie Apocalypse and any connection to the ‘Miami Cannibal’.
~ CBS News Miami, 5/26/2012
• • •
Delray Beach, FL February 4, 2014
A crazed, naked man with “superhuman strength” was shot and killed by a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s sergeant after attacking several people including a retired NYPD officer, a 16-year-old female, and an 18-year-old male. The 18-year-old male, who was protecting his 16-year-old sister, suffered bite marks on his face and a lacerated ear.
~ The Palm Beach Post, 2/4/2014
• • •
TNW Release Schedule
Dear new and old followers,
I will begin re-posting revised ‘TNW | Day 42’ episodes every Sunday beginning February 9th. Wish me well in keeping to this schedule.
Although I am working on Day 54 now, I will not post it until I have reposted Dsys 42 – 53.
Be seeing you …
cb
Bed Time
The Defenders
TNW
In the long run, we are all dead.
~ John Maynard Keynes, 1923p
• • •
Days turn into weeks
Into months how quick they pass
And then we all die
The Nudist War Begins …
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A 6-foot-3, 250-pound naked man died after being shot by a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s sergeant when he attacked a former New York City police officer, chased a man and his young son and bit a man on the face.
“The 18-year-old thought he was trying to eat his face off,” Bradshaw said.
“The people that he assaulted, starting with the retired NYPD guy, the people that he chased and then the 18-year-old, said this guy had like super human strength,” the sheriff said.”
The incident is reminiscent of a 2012 attack in Miami in which a naked man attacked a homeless man and chewed off much of his face. The man, Rudy Eugene, was shot and killed by a Miami police officer.
The victim in the Miami attack, Ronald Poppo, lost his left eye, his nose and most of the surrounding skin.
The Nudist War begins …
( Patient Zero? )
The Lie of Multitasking
This has been one of my rants for a while.
Multi tasking is a lie.
For all three of you that have been waiting on the sequel to my last post, I apologize this one’s taken so long to get out. Who knew writing TL;DR posts take a while? Anyhow, that being said, I wanted to pick up where I left off on my last post and start to dive into some of the findings from the books I read and continue with this series of posts on some of the harmful effects that result from how most of us use technology. For the next few posts we’ll be focusing on David Sousa’s book, “Brainwork: The Neuroscience Behind How We Lead Others”. One of the first things he addresses is the subject of multitasking and it’s detrimental effects (I hope my title was a hint).
Apparent Productivity
Multi tasking is everywhere these days, there isn’t a single person who doesn’t have several things going on at…
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The Nudist War, iOS app 3.9.1, …
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
This issue has been fixed in 3.9.1
http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/02/12/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-1-released/
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
News
The WordPress iOS app 3.9.1 should fix the timestamp problem with updates, which appears to be an issue with local time vs UTC.
I won’t do any more updates to older posts until 3.9.1 comes out. Until then, if you are a new reader, you will need search on ‘Day 42’, ‘Day 43’, etc. to compensate for the broken links.
Once the 3.9.1 app release is out, I plan to repost Day 42, 43, 44 etc. with revisions starting at some current future date. I will leave the original posts in place for historical reference.
I have chosen The Nudist War as the title of the novel with Day 42 still the first chapter. I think that I will title the first post The Nudist War with subsequent posts titled TNW Day 43, TNW Day 43, TNW Day 44, etc.
I am also eagerly awaiting the March(?) release of iOS 7.1, which is anticipated to have better memory management and bug fixes for iPads and iPhone.
Other than troubleshooting the timestamp/date/URL issue on iOS app 3.9 and loosing my sanity, I have been work aggressively on TNW Day 54. As they say … the plot thickens. 🙂
cb
The Nudist War, TNW, Day42, HZV Copyright © 2013 by Christian Bergman, All rights reserved.
WordPress for iOS
Using an iPad or iPhone to maintain you site? Using the iOS app?
http://ios.wordpress.org is the site for you. Check out the blog and the forums.
You will (may?) need to create a separate account for the .org site. At least I did, but then again it recognizes me as ‘cb’ and displays my Gravitar.
This site saved my sanity
cb
I am not crazy
Well OK … maybe a little bit
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
This issue has been fixed in 3.9.1
http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/02/12/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-1-released/
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
But at least the WP folks are aware of the Timestamp/URL issue I have been troubleshooting with iPhone App 3.9
http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/01/30/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-released/#comment-61129
Posted Timestamp Issue to WordPress for iOS
This issue has been fixed in 3.9.1
http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/02/12/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-1-released/
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
If interested you may follow at:
http://ios.forums.wordpress.org/topic/timestamp-regression-on-update?replies=1#post-11606
If you are reading this …
This issue has been fixed in 3.9.1
http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/02/12/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-1-released/
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
… You can help!
Read the previous post or the previous several posts. Every time I update a post, the timestamp gets reset to an earlier time. Update enough and it gets reset to an earlier day – this changes the URL and breaks retrospective links.
Would you please repeat my steps, just update a post several times (add space, add a word, delete a word) and note the time stamp. If it changes, reply to this post.
Am I the only one having this problem?
Wash, rinse, repeat
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
This issue has been fixed in 3.9.1http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/02/12/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-1-released/
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •Wash, rinse, repeat appears to have been posted on February 1st, but in reality it was posted just prior to midnight CST on Monday February 3rd.
Bottom line too many edits and you run the risk of pushing the timestamp back a day or more and changing the URL accordingly.
I do this kind of troubleshooting at my day job. It is frustrating to have to do it at night for my hobby.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
This issue has been fixed in 3.9.1
http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/02/12/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-1-released/
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Ok so I deleted Version 3.9 and I re-downloaded from the Apple iPhone App Store
The post was created @ 11:41 PM February 3rd 2014
1st update @ 11:44 PM 2014/02/03
Kill all Apps and relaunch the WP App. View the stats
2nd update at @ 11:53 2014/02/03
Note the change in the timestamp
3rd update @ 11:55 2014/02/03
4th update @ 11:56 2014/02/03
Note the date change. This will change the URL
5th update @ 11:58 2014/02/03
Note the post order has now changed
6th update @ 12:03 2014/02/04
Prior to…
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Must have scotch …
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
This issue has been fixed in 3.9.1
http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/02/12/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-1-released/
I am happy 🙂
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
After documenting to my own satisfaction … and hopefully to your satisfaction … I need scotch. Smoky not chill filtered, no coloring added, single malt scotch.
Being unable to go back and edit my previous posts puts the kibosh on my ability to tidy up and standardize various grammatical aspects.
I am sad 😦
Mmmmm scotch
Ongoing WP Problems
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
This issue has been fixed in 3.9.1
http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/02/12/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-1-released/
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
I am editing and updating Timeline, my previous post. Today is February 2nd, but after my last update of Timeline it shows up as February 1st!
Timeline
This post was originally created on 2014-02-02
The Beginning
August 2013
September 2013
October 2013
November 2013
December 2013
January 2014
Wash, rinse, repeat
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
This issue has been fixed in 3.9.1
http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/02/12/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-1-released/
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Ok so I deleted Version 3.9 and I re-downloaded from the Apple iPhone App Store
The post was created @ 11:41 PM February 3rd 2014
1st update @ 11:44 PM 2014/02/03
Kill all Apps and relaunch the WP App. View the stats
2nd update at @ 11:53 2014/02/03
Note the change in the timestamp
3rd update @ 11:55 2014/02/03
4th update @ 11:56 2014/02/03
Note the date change. This will change the URL
5th update @ 11:58 2014/02/03
Note the post order has now changed
6th update @ 12:03 2014/02/04
Prior to the 7th save the URL for this post is
https://contrafactual.com/2014/02/02/wash-rinse-repeat/
8th update @ 12:09 2014/02/04
After the 8th update the URL is now
I hope that this clearly shows the issue I am seeing
😦
Fear of Updating or …
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
This issue has been fixed in 3.9.1
http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/02/12/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-1-released/
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
… Troubleshooting Part Two
UPDATE – I just edited this and now the posting order is out of date! This post actually follows https://contrafactual.com/2014/02/02/ongoing-wp-problems/
I also just edited Timeline and now it is timestamped yet another day earlier with a URL of https://contrafactual.com/2014/01/31/timeline/
In my previous two posts in noticed that when I updated Timeline, the creation time and URL changed. If the URL changes every time I update it screws up all of my links!
So I took a look at the activity logs.
Really geeky debug stuff follows
Post, edit, update, repeat
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
This issue has been fixed in 3.9.1
http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/02/12/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-1-released/
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Created approximately 5:58 PM
Update @ 6:02 PM
Upload screen capture and update @ 6:04 PM
Upload image @ 6:06 PM and update
Upload image @ 6:08 PM and update
Repeat @ 6:10 PM
Repeat @ 6:11 PM
Repeat @ 6:12 PM
Repeat @ 6:14 PM
Repeat @ 6:16 PM
Etc.
PS the new link function does not work. I had to manually code the HTML for the above link. Below is what I saw when I clicked the link icon
Troubleshooting
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
This issue has been fixed in 3.9.1
http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/02/12/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-1-released/
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
In 42 days of Pain and WordPress iPhone App FAIL I describe the problem I am having with the latest WordPress iPhone App by Automattic (Version 3.9, January 30, 2014)
Step 1
I go to Contrafactual and choose Menu > Topics and chose Day 46
This is the URL
Next I use the iPhone App to edit and publish Day 46
I click on Menu > Topics and chose Day 46
No problem ???
So let me go thru all of Menu > Topics and see what links are broken
Broken links: Day 42, Day 51, Day 52, Day 53
All posts I edited on Friday January 31
Below are the URLs for the above posts
Original https://contrafactual.com/2013/07/11/hzv-day-42/
Current https://contrafactual.com/2013/07/10/hzv-day-42/
Original https://contrafactual.com/2013/12/10/day-51/
Current https://contrafactual.com/2013/12/09/day-51/
Original https://contrafactual.com/2013/12/17/day-52/
Current https://contrafactual.com/2014/01/26/day-52-2
Original https://contrafactual.com/2014/01/29/day-53/
Current https://contrafactual.com/2014/01/27/day-53/
So, yesterday updates posted to a different URL, but today there are no apparent problems. ?????
Cue Rod Serling …
Look at the time stamp on Troubleshooting below. I published this at 3:28 PM
Followed by this
42 Days of Pain
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
This issue has been fixed in 3.9.1
http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/02/12/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-1-released/
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
In my previous post, I described the problem I having with the latest Version 3.9, January 30, 2014 release of the WordPress iPhone App.
When I go back to update older posts (in this case edits to the Day 42 / The Nudist War serialized novel), the update gets written to a new URL:
https://contrafactual.com/2013/07/11/hzv-day-42/ vs
https://contrafactual.com/2013/07/10/hzv-day-42/
This means that ALL of my links are now invalid. If you try to read the series you will get
Really annoying 😦
I am sure that Automattic will fix this, but it could be a while.
I have submitted a public question about this at:
http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/iphone-app-39-saves-updates-to-a-different-url?replies=1
I don’t know if this is an iPhone-specific problem or more widespread, but if you edit an older post and the URL changes you now know why.
cb
WordPress iPhone App FAIL
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
This issue has been fixed in 3.9.1
http://ios.wordpress.org/2014/02/12/wordpress-for-ios-3-9-1-released/
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The latest WordPress iPhone App by Automattic (Version 3.9, January 30, 2014) writes update to the wrong folder.
For example the first entry of Day 42 (The Nudist War) has ALWAYS been located at:
After editing and saving it is now located at:
https://contrafactual.com/2013/07/10/hzv-day-42/
Arrrrrgggghhhh
I discovered this after going back and editing earlier posts.
I thought the post had disappeared until I did a search on Day 42.
Next step … Contacting Automatic 😦
A MAN WALKS INTO A TENT……
Another Pete Seeger story …
Pete Seeger; Musician, Activist, Humanitarian. 94 Years Young………
May 3, 1919 To January 27, 2014
On some other post, I would love to write a little more about Pete Seeger. For now, I would just like to leave a humorous little story about “one day…”
My own personal story is from a few years back at the Newport Folk Festival. I was standing in the corner of the small stage area watching an ensemble of folk singers. There was Dar Williams, John Gorka, and Ellis Paul. The performers were taking turns singing one of their songs. At one point, Dar Williams, in her introduction of Ellis Paul was talking about how she and some of her neighbors were working on a project to clean up the Hudson River. Suddenly, there was a pause and she pointed almost right at me. She then said “hey, there’s one of my neighbors now.” Obviously…
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Anger and Depression
Via email …
In Memoriam
Pete Seeger 1919 – 2014
Pete Seeger died peacefully two days ago.
Pete Seeger was a founding father of American Folk Music. His repertoire of songs is amazing. Chances are you know many of them.
Pete Seeger popularized We Shall Overcome and it became the anthem of the American Civil Rights movement.
Pete Seeger talks about the history of We Shall Overcome:
This is the famous Carnegie Hall recording by Pete Seeger.
We Shall Overcome – The Complete Carnegie Hall Collection is available on iTunes, Amazon, and most of the usual places.
Google Pete Seeger ,,,
It Don’t Come Easy
1970s
2005
– – –
This is not your father’s Oldsmobile
Don’t worry
I won’t fall …
Day 53
This is an archival version. Please visit The Nudist War for the current version.
https://contrafactual.com/the-nudist-war/
[Author’s note: This is the twelfth chapter. To start at the beginning go >> HERE <<
Or read the previous chapter.]
Copyright © 2013 by Christian Bergman, All rights reserved.
– Day 53 –
The troops, with one exception, consisted of five mixed-gender squads of ten soldiers each. White Team was the exception, consisting of only six elite soldiers all of whom were women. The White Team elite were popularly known as the ‘Angels of Death’ in the war against the Zs. They had seen more combat and scored more nudist kills than the other squads combined.
MAN handed the coffee cup to the Lieutant Colonel. “So Kwan, tell me about the Angels of Death.”
Day 52
This is an archival version. Please visit The Nudist War for the current version.
https://contrafactual.com/the-nudist-war/
Working on Day 53 now. Hope to post it within a day or two.
cb
This is an archival version. Please visit The Nudist War for the current version.
https://contrafactual.com/the-nudist-war/
[Author’s note: This is the 11th chapter. To start at the beginning go >> HERE <<]
Copyright © 2013 by Christian Bergman, All rights reserved.
All people, places, and events are fictional … except when they aren’t.
– Day 52 –
The helicopters began arriving shortly before 7:00 AM. First, Brian buzzed to say that Shelly had just radioed him that the first chopper had departed. MAN got up, got dressed, and put on coffee. “Maggie let’s take you out before our guests arrive.” While Maggie did her business, MAN climbed up to the helipad to talk to Nora and Jan. The fall air was cold and crisp, in the mid-30s. The sky was a clear dark blue, with the wind blowing strongly from the north. A few bright stars could still be…
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Göbekli Tepe
Oldest Known Temple
Old, really old: 11,500 years old
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/gobekli-tepe/mann-text
The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR), a Possible Contendor for Nuclear Propulsion Systems
Possible propulsion source for long-haul trans-Martian and trans-Terran transport.
The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors (LFTR) are purportedly safer (no harmful radioactive wastes produced), less expensive, smaller in size, does not use weapons-grade radioactive fuels and run on thorium-232, which is apparently an abundant heavy metal. The nuclear reactions in an LFTR can be started and stopped easily. The fuel does not have to be refined or enriched or made into pellet shapes. The reaction products are supposedly less harmful and have short half-lives.
Thus, I feel that the above qualities make LFTRs a potential fit for nuclear propulsion applications. LFTRs can be made smaller to fit an air/space vehicle. The controllability of the reactions gives us the ability to throttle power output on a vehicle. The reactors can be designed to withstand explosions. At present, aircraft black boxes are made tough and rugged, and designed to withstand crashes and submersion in water. So is the case with nuclear warheads…
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OH MY GOD!
It wasn’t there before!
Mystery ‘doughnut’ materializes in front of Mars rover
Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are puzzled by a mysterious rock that has appeared in front of the Opportunity rover, Curiosity’s never-say-die older sibling.
“Mars keeps throwing new stuff at us!” NASA Mars Exploration Rover lead scientist Steve Squyres told Discovery News.
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Mexican Spicy Crickets
This one possible recipe for the roasted crickets that are a favorite food of the Martian Colonists in my sci-fi short story Rocket Man.
https://contrafactual.com/2014/01/08/rocket-man/I need to try this as part of my research.
September 5th, 2010
Whilst on a food shoot yesterday, somebody turned up with a jar of Mexican Spicy Crickets. I was intrigued and delighted to find that they are quite crunchy and flavoured with chilli, garlic and lime. The crickets came from Oaxaca, Mexico, where they are a popular snack.
Spicy Cricket Recipe:
lots of crickets
lime juice
crushed garlic
chilli flakes
olive oil
salt
Drop your crickets into some boiling water to kill them quickly. When they turn red, remove them from the saucepan. Dry the crickets with some kitchen towel and marinate over night in a bowl of lemon juice, crushed garlic, chilli flakes and a little salt, to taste.
Remove the crickets from the marinade, but don’t dry them. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and add the crickets when the oil is hot. They don’t take very long and it’s important to…
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Top 10 …
Top 10 Observations of an old White Guy on Race Relations in the New Millennium
Number 10
Barrack Obama may be the coolest, hippest, Nobel Prize winningest President the US has ever had, but he is not the blackest. Bill Clinton still holds that title.
I reject your reality
… and substitute my own.
I just saw it on TV and it made me laugh.
Contrafactual 