The Hackers Diet

Hackers Diet

I’m an engineer. I decided to approach weight loss as an engineering problem.

Bob Bickford, computer and video guru, defined the true essence of the hacker as “Any person who derives joy from discovering ways to circumvent limitations.”

You don’t need a computer to use The Hacker’s Diet; easy-to-work paper and pencil methods are presented in the book. But if you have a computer with Excel or a PalmPilot, the companion tools may save you time and provide more insight into the engineering underpinning of the methods described in the book, while producing an illustrated log of your progress.

Global Climate Change

Inconvenient Truth

I saw Al Gore’s movie. Now I’m concerned about high levels of CO2 in our atmosphere.

I want to avoid all the hype, and actually learn something about Climate Science. Not only that, but I want to learn Climate science from climate scientists.

That’s why I’m anxious for the TV Special “Global Warming” to Air July 16, 2006.

I want to start from a base of facts that we already know. For example, everyone knows that the Gulf Stream is the source of Europe’s mild climate. How will high levels of CO2 change this?

While it seems McDonald’s Interactive is doing something productive, I worry that some of the cures will end up being worse than the disease.

Mayflies

Mayfly

Mayflies date from the Carboniferous and Permian times and are the oldest of the extant (still living) winged insects

“Fly fast, mate quickly, die young.” If mayflies had a motto, that would probably be it. That’s because these elegant insects have among the shortest adult lives of any insect.

In some mayfly species, summer emergence of winged stages is a sudden and dramatic event that occurs almost simultaneously throughout the entire population. These mass emergences are often regarded as a major nuisance. The insects are attracted to city lights and blown inland by the wind. Their dead bodies pile up in drifts on porches and windowsills; they plaster car windshields and slicken highways. Europeans are often more sanguine than Americans about mass emergences — in some communities the dead insects are diligently gathered up, dried, and sold as bird food, fish bait, or fertilizer

In northeast Iowa, they even show up on National Weather Service radar.

Pics

Big Horn

Big Horn

Big Horn is a rolling masterpiece, ready to dazzle your mind and intrigue your imagination. With a Verdin Bell carillon, Tangley Circus Calliope, 55 antique steam whistles, 46 air whistles, 18 train, boat, submarine and truck horns, 4 ships horns including – the world’s largest air horn, 21 fire alarms, emergency, railroad trolley, fire truck and train bells, 2 US Navy destroyer steam sirens, one diaphone fog horn, 175 feet of multi functioned neon lights in red, white, blue, green and purple, twenty-two high-powered strobe lights, accessory compressor and an air operated cockpit door, 164 cfm rotary screw compressor with 200 gallons of air storage capacity, billowing smoke machines, 300 amps of audio power, wireless PA system, remote control for audience participation, 66 electronic and mechanical gauges, 7500-watt Onan generator, a 2500-watt Heart inverter and seven 1450-amp batteries as used in the space shuttle

Diagram

Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships

LDRS

I like any event that has “Dangerous” right in the middle of it’s name.

Adventures from the Technology Underground is Gurstelle’s lively and weirdly compelling report of his travels. In these pages we meet Frank Kosdon and others who draw the scrutiny of the FAA, ATF, and other federal agencies in their pursuit of high-power amateur rocketry, which they demonstrate to impressive-and sometimes explosive-effect at the annual LDRS gathering held in various remote and unpopulated areas

Northern Ohio’s history in rocketry dates back to 1932, when the Cleveland Rocketry Society began work in experimental rocketry with liquid fueled rocket engines.

In 1966 the Natural Science Museum Model Rocket Research Society or NSMMRRS was formed and run by a former curator of the museum.

In 1970, The North Royalton Rocket Society or NRRS was formed and operated through 1974.

At this time the Suburban Northeast Ohio Association of Rocketry Club (SNOAR) was formed. This group started holding the Great Lakes Regional Meets (GLRM) that are now known as the annual LDRS launches (Tripoli’s annual National High Power Rocketry Launches).

The first GLRM’s were held at the Garfield Heights landfill in the mid to late 70’s and started as the NAR Sport Launches.

In 1982, the GLRM’s became the Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships launches (LDRS).

The first 5 LDRS launches were held here in Northern Ohio (Medina, Ohio) with the last one being held here in August 1986.

LDRS is number three on Wired Magazines list of the 10 Best North American Geek Fests.

11th annual Large Dangerous Rocket Ship convention
14th annual Large Dangerous Rocket Ship convention Pics
17th annual Large Dangerous Rocket Ship convention
20th annual Large Dangerous Rocket Ship convention Pics
21st annual Large Dangerous Rocket Ship convention
23rd annual Large Dangerous Rocket Ship convention Pics
24th annual Large Dangerous Rocket Ship convention SlideShow
25th annual Large Dangerous Rocket Ship convention Video

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