Wow, they’re expensive. Which is ironic, because I want to see how much wow there is in my platter.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
Brie Larson
A rant on her unbearable ingratitude. I haven’t seen the movie, don’t have any immediate plans to.
Habitats On Mars
Interesting design concepts from Hassell Studios.
Upgrading Phones
A record number of people are waiting to do it.
Apple, Samsung et al are coming up with new models faster than the demand for them. I’m happy with the Moto G6 I bought for a couple hundred bucks a year or two ago. I don’t see any features in the newer ones that I can’t live without. Of course, I see my cell phone as an evil necessity, not something integrated into my existence. I often forget to take it with me when I go out of the house, and only use it in the house when I need to text.
CA HSR
The LA Times has the latest on the mess.
[Update a few minutes later]
Kind of amusing that the contract value for WSP, the biggest consultant, is the number of the beast.
Shackleton
Bezos is hinting that at next month’s satellite conference, he may announce an expedition to the lunar south pole.
A Space Resources Institute
There is a bipartisan bill from two Colorado congressmen to establish one.
I heard about this from George Sowers when I stopped by to visit him in Golden a couple weeks ago. Presumably, their goal is to put it in the Front Range, and probably affiliate it with the School of Mines, which currently has the only graduate program in this discipline.
California Gas Prices
They’re now averaging $4 a gallon. I paid sixty bucks to fill the BMW last weekend to drive back down from the Bay area. Just nuts.
The Carolina Reaper
My brother was visiting out here a year or so ago, and was trying to find these in the store. No one had ever heard of them. The hottest pepper we have locally is habanero. Anyway, I like spicy food (though it makes me sweat) but these people are nuts.
Dentistry
People have far too much faith in the medical profession in general, but I’d have never put up with this kind of thing. I’ll always get a second opinion on any major dental procedure, particularly when the person recommending it is going to perform (and profit) from it. A few months ago, I broke a molar that had been weakened from a filling. But it was just the side, and the basic tooth remained intact. I got the dentist to grind it for a crown, and we avoided killing the tooth (for now, at least). I’m sure a lot of others would have recommended a root canal (though those are generally done by specialists).