Law firms are buying lots of expensive liability insurance now, because companies are more liable to sue their law firm when things don't go right. What's more, the companies zero in on the bigger law firms who actually might have some money to pay off, rather than mom-and-pop outfits that can barely make payroll.
Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Naming Rights
Over here the Weather Bureau assigns names to "tropical depressions" aka hurricanes. They used to only do girls names, but the gender police caught up with them and now they use boys names too. In Europe, the Berlin Institute of Meteorology used to do the same thing. Then after a budget cut some brilliant German thought up the "adopt a vortex" plan whereby anyone could sponsor a name.
BMW marketing paid E199 to buy the name "Minnie" for one storm system and E299 to name another one "Cooper". (Mini Cooper, get it?). Unfortunately for BMW, "Cooper" turned into a monster bringing Arctic temperatures, dozens of storm related deaths and heavy snow as far south as Rome.
The BMW people issued a public apology for the inconvenience. It is not known if they plan to persist in this marketing effort.
BMW marketing paid E199 to buy the name "Minnie" for one storm system and E299 to name another one "Cooper". (Mini Cooper, get it?). Unfortunately for BMW, "Cooper" turned into a monster bringing Arctic temperatures, dozens of storm related deaths and heavy snow as far south as Rome.
The BMW people issued a public apology for the inconvenience. It is not known if they plan to persist in this marketing effort.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Literature and Arts vs Science and Engineering
Starting in middle school, education breaks into two tracks, Literature and the Arts, and Science and Engineering. Literature is English, Latin, and modern languages. Arts are history, painting, architecture, sculpture, music. Science and Engineering includes physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, electrical, mechanical, civil, and chemical engineering. We will ignore the nothing studies like physical education, gender studies, black studies,sociology, education, political science, and underwater basket weaving.
Science and engineering requires some (sometimes a lot of) mathematics. It also leads to jobs in the private sector. Literature and Arts requires no math, and only leads to teaching positions. Of the nothing studies, at least an education major can lead to a teaching job, if the student can survive the boredom of a major with little to no intellectual content.
Looking back on it, my str0ng recommendation for new students is to pick the science and engineering track. The subjects are intellectually interesting, which is another way of saying "fun". They are intellectually rigorous, theories have to be supported by repeatable experiments and observations, which means the conclusions reached are highly likely to be true.
Note, I did not say "bound to be true". In science, we know our history, we know of many instances of new discoveries that invalidated or radically extended existing knowledge. Now a days we like to say, "it's true as far as we know today". In science and engineering it is extremely useful to know the limits of our knowledge. When troubleshooting is it valuable to be able to say "This and this and this are well understood, but that is cutting edge technology and not well understood, yet."
Pure science is the pursuit of new scientific knowledge. Engineering is the application of science to make useful devices, products, and structures. Engineering is fascinating in itself, the question "what science will make this new device work, or produce that new product, both at cost low enough to sell?" It's puzzle solving.
Mathematics is essential to a career in science and engineering. Algebra is the barest minimum. Plane geometry and trigonometry are just about mandatory, and calculus, ( from derivatives, to integrals, and then differential equations) is used just about everywhere. In high school, the wise student will keep his options open by taking the right mathematics courses. High school ought to teach algebra, plane geometry, and trigonometry. If you miss these high school courses you will be behind the power curve in college. College math ought to start with calculus, and without the algebra and trig, the calculus student is doomed unless possessed of genius level mathematical ability. The high school student who dodges the math courses, or gets sucked off into "business arithmetic" or "statistics" even "matrix algebra" has locked himself out of the science and engineering track. Algebra, geometry and trig are required, the others are not. High schools these days tend to call "pre-calculus" what they used to call trigonometry. Either way, you have to take it.
Science and engineering requires some (sometimes a lot of) mathematics. It also leads to jobs in the private sector. Literature and Arts requires no math, and only leads to teaching positions. Of the nothing studies, at least an education major can lead to a teaching job, if the student can survive the boredom of a major with little to no intellectual content.
Looking back on it, my str0ng recommendation for new students is to pick the science and engineering track. The subjects are intellectually interesting, which is another way of saying "fun". They are intellectually rigorous, theories have to be supported by repeatable experiments and observations, which means the conclusions reached are highly likely to be true.
Note, I did not say "bound to be true". In science, we know our history, we know of many instances of new discoveries that invalidated or radically extended existing knowledge. Now a days we like to say, "it's true as far as we know today". In science and engineering it is extremely useful to know the limits of our knowledge. When troubleshooting is it valuable to be able to say "This and this and this are well understood, but that is cutting edge technology and not well understood, yet."
Pure science is the pursuit of new scientific knowledge. Engineering is the application of science to make useful devices, products, and structures. Engineering is fascinating in itself, the question "what science will make this new device work, or produce that new product, both at cost low enough to sell?" It's puzzle solving.
Mathematics is essential to a career in science and engineering. Algebra is the barest minimum. Plane geometry and trigonometry are just about mandatory, and calculus, ( from derivatives, to integrals, and then differential equations) is used just about everywhere. In high school, the wise student will keep his options open by taking the right mathematics courses. High school ought to teach algebra, plane geometry, and trigonometry. If you miss these high school courses you will be behind the power curve in college. College math ought to start with calculus, and without the algebra and trig, the calculus student is doomed unless possessed of genius level mathematical ability. The high school student who dodges the math courses, or gets sucked off into "business arithmetic" or "statistics" even "matrix algebra" has locked himself out of the science and engineering track. Algebra, geometry and trig are required, the others are not. High schools these days tend to call "pre-calculus" what they used to call trigonometry. Either way, you have to take it.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Victory at Sea
Shortly after WWII they gathered together endless feet of newsreel movie footage into 26 episodes of war fighting footage. Broadway's Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote the original score. I remember seeing it on TV as a young child. It turned up in a Wal Mart bargain DVD bin and so I brought it home.
It's all black and white, color film in the 1940's was hard come by and so insensitive to light that everyone shot the faster black and white. Looking at the images today, you marvel at how bad the film really was. Out door scenes are over exposed except in the shadows which are pitch black. No dynamic range, no grays, at all. A good deal of the footage is captured enemy film, showing Japanese and German troops from their side of the trench.
Lots of quaint shots of horses and horse drawn carts, French Navy sailors wearing red and blue striped T-shirts that no American male would be caught dead wearing. Dramatic shots of a great steamship capsizing and then exploding.
Containerization is 20 years in the future, hence endless shots of wood crates being hoisted into and out of ship's holds in rope cargo nets. Plus shots of tanks and army trucks and fighter planes swinging up onto decks. And shots of troops trudging up the gangplanks onto transports. That's all gone now, the troops board jetliners, nary a ship in sight.
Anyhow, if you want a good quick rundown on how WWII happened, this is a good watch.
It's all black and white, color film in the 1940's was hard come by and so insensitive to light that everyone shot the faster black and white. Looking at the images today, you marvel at how bad the film really was. Out door scenes are over exposed except in the shadows which are pitch black. No dynamic range, no grays, at all. A good deal of the footage is captured enemy film, showing Japanese and German troops from their side of the trench.
Lots of quaint shots of horses and horse drawn carts, French Navy sailors wearing red and blue striped T-shirts that no American male would be caught dead wearing. Dramatic shots of a great steamship capsizing and then exploding.
Containerization is 20 years in the future, hence endless shots of wood crates being hoisted into and out of ship's holds in rope cargo nets. Plus shots of tanks and army trucks and fighter planes swinging up onto decks. And shots of troops trudging up the gangplanks onto transports. That's all gone now, the troops board jetliners, nary a ship in sight.
Anyhow, if you want a good quick rundown on how WWII happened, this is a good watch.
Friday, February 3, 2012
We have a replacement for Global Warming.
Now that global warming is getting debunked, the disaster industry is looking for a new menace. They think they found one.
Solar storms.
Sounds bad doesn't it? There is a bit a added drama in the reference to "every eleven years the sun goes ballistic" . What is the author talking about? He is referring to the sunspot cycle. The number of sunspots rises and falls on an eleven year cycle. This was discovered back in the 1600's. Sunspots do effect the earth's ionosphere, a fact well known to high frequency radio operators. Radio propagation is best at sunspot maximun, and worst at sunspot minumum. Radio amateurs have known about this for nearly 100 years. Nothing new here.
Now the disaster industry is beating the drums about a massive solar storm knocking out the electric power grid.
Highly unlikely. All those wires running thru the air get struck by lightning, every day, thousands of times. A lightning bolt can do real damage, start fires, blow out electrical equipment. Nothing keeps out a lightening bolt, the voltage is high enough to arc thru any amount of insulation, including thousands of feet of air. A bolt struck the powerline leading to my mother's house a few years ago. It destroyed her satellite receiver and burned the insides of her CD player black. Took out some light bulbs too. But the electric grid kept right on working, her lights stayed on.
Bottom line, the electric grid shrugs off lightning hits strong enough to fry consumer electronics.
No solar storm is going to be a strong as a lightening hit.
Solar storms.
Sounds bad doesn't it? There is a bit a added drama in the reference to "every eleven years the sun goes ballistic" . What is the author talking about? He is referring to the sunspot cycle. The number of sunspots rises and falls on an eleven year cycle. This was discovered back in the 1600's. Sunspots do effect the earth's ionosphere, a fact well known to high frequency radio operators. Radio propagation is best at sunspot maximun, and worst at sunspot minumum. Radio amateurs have known about this for nearly 100 years. Nothing new here.
Now the disaster industry is beating the drums about a massive solar storm knocking out the electric power grid.
Highly unlikely. All those wires running thru the air get struck by lightning, every day, thousands of times. A lightning bolt can do real damage, start fires, blow out electrical equipment. Nothing keeps out a lightening bolt, the voltage is high enough to arc thru any amount of insulation, including thousands of feet of air. A bolt struck the powerline leading to my mother's house a few years ago. It destroyed her satellite receiver and burned the insides of her CD player black. Took out some light bulbs too. But the electric grid kept right on working, her lights stayed on.
Bottom line, the electric grid shrugs off lightning hits strong enough to fry consumer electronics.
No solar storm is going to be a strong as a lightening hit.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
can we believe CBO estimates?
CBO Congressional Budget Office, makes predictions of Federal government revenue, deficits, debt, and so on. Typically they are asked to predict the effect of laws (Obamacare, Bush tax cut extentions, hiking taxes on the wealthy) upon the Federal fisc. Unfortunately, CBO predictions are often pure BS. For instance CBO predicted that Obamacare would save money. Yeah right.
CBO predictions are based upon unrealistic assumptions. Such as, Congress won't ease the Alternate Minimum Tax (which they do every year). Or that Congress won't pass a "doc fix" easing Medicare fee cuts (which they do every year).
The House of Representatives spent today arguing over reform of the CBO estimating process. The Republicans want more realistic estimates. The democrats stand foresquare for bull crap estimates.
CBO predictions are based upon unrealistic assumptions. Such as, Congress won't ease the Alternate Minimum Tax (which they do every year). Or that Congress won't pass a "doc fix" easing Medicare fee cuts (which they do every year).
The House of Representatives spent today arguing over reform of the CBO estimating process. The Republicans want more realistic estimates. The democrats stand foresquare for bull crap estimates.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Romney wins Florida, Thank Goodness
Big relief last night. Mitt beat Newt decisively in Florida. A good thing. Mitt can beat Obama, Newt cannot, Newt is too flaky, and has accumulated too many enemies over the 30 years he has been in national politics.
Unless something really strange happens, Mitt will get the nomination, and Newt will go back to consulting.
Unless something really strange happens, Mitt will get the nomination, and Newt will go back to consulting.
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