English, Please cvining Fri, 09/04/2009 - 12:38

A friend in Saskatchewan recently bought a computer and called me for help. "How do I change the language of this thing to English?  Everything's in French on this new machine!"

Helpful as any tech support guy I reply without hesitation: "haven't a clue."

"Then why did I call you?"

After a bit of googling and some back and forth we determine several things.

Commentary
Internet

It's All In The Mind

Submitted by cvining on Fri, 09/04/2009 - 11:54

True story.

In college I had a crush on a very beautiful woman who, at that time,
was having difficulty with her marriage. A mutual friend told this
joke to her to illustrate that sex is all in the mind.

Q: What's a four letter word for intercourse, ending in "k"?

My beautiful friend, petite and fair, instantly turned a very becoming
shade of crimson, but said nothing.

"Why are you blushing?" says our mutual friend. "The answer is
'talk', obviously!"

My beautiful friend was delighted and said she must try the joke on
her husband. Next day she tells this sad story.

Fear of Dictatorship Greets Alabama Congressman Over Health Care Reform

Submitted by cvining on Thu, 09/03/2009 - 13:06

Fear of government control and dictatorship greeted local U.S. Representative Mike Rogers when he held a town hall style meeting yesterday at Monarch Estates, a retirement living community here in Auburn, Alabama.  The Opelika-Auburn News, the local paper here, sent reporter Brittany Whitley.  Click here for her full story, including some reader comments.

Commentary
Politics
An Inconvenient Truth About Thermoelectrics cvining Wed, 09/02/2009 - 14:41

From Nature Materials, February 2009, Volume 8 No 2

Commentary

An inconvenient truth about thermoelectrics pp83 - 85

Cronin B. Vining

doi:10.1038/nmat2361

Commentary
Climate

Solar Power

Submitted by cvining on Tue, 05/29/2007 - 19:55

Science Newssn-solar-2007 has a nice introduction to the role solar power may play in fighting global climate change.  Some telling statistics:

Commentary
Climate
Sunni surge better than US surge cvining Thu, 04/26/2007 - 03:58

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6575717.stm

BBC is reporting the "Sunni extremist surge seems to be having more effect than the American one."

One more example that Iraq is a Dollar Auction: each time we up the ante, so does "the extremists". Bush keeps telling us we can't afford to lose.  Trouble is, neither can the other side(s). So the game will go on until one side wises up and walks away.

Nothing to win here.  Please move on. 

Commentary
Iraq

One Celled People

Submitted by cvining on Fri, 04/13/2007 - 14:35

This has to be one of the best ever commentarys on those who oppose stem cell research:

 

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 13 Apr 07   Washington, DC

1. STEM CELLS: PRESIDENT BUSH VOWS TO PROTECT ONE-CELLED PEOPLE. 
The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act passed the Senate 63-34,
but President Bush promises a veto.  He said the use of embryonic
stem cells in research "crosses a moral line."  In case you're
wondering where this "moral line" is drawn, WN has looked into
it.  George W. Bush and other conservative theologians believe a
"soul" is assigned to the fertilized egg at the instant of
conception.  That makes it a person, even though it's not counted
in the census.  In-vitro fertilization makes a lot more of these
one-celled people than it needs; leftovers are stacked in the
freezer until it starts filling up.  President Bush cares deeply
about these helpless one-celled people and wants to ensure they
are properly flushed down the disposal rather than exploited by
godless scientists interested only the reduction of suffering.

 

Commentary
Science
Internet Growth cvining Wed, 11/29/2006 - 12:49

Internet GrowthIn 1993 the number of internet users was a trivial percentage of the world population. Today there are over a billion users, nearly 17% of the world population[1], and some 440 million host computers on the internet [2].

Commentary
Internet
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