Scott Adams proposes a third party - the Science Party - to modernize the U.S. Constitution:
With this arrangement, the Science Party is on the winning side of every vote. The public would always have the benefit of knowing that the facts mattered. That doesn’t mean the Science Party is always right. It just means the decisions are always informed by reason. Realistically, the Science Party would usually be settling for the lesser of evils.
Newsweek CEO, Tina Brown:
We are announcing this morning an important development at Newsweek and The Daily Beast. Newsweek will transition to an all-digital format in early 2013. As part of this transition, the last print edition in the United States will be our Dec. 31 issue.
After 80 years, the print edition of Newsweek is no more. It will be interesting to see how many more organizations make the same choice in the coming years.
Kip Praslowicz:
Idle thought today while at work was how it seems like many amateur photographs spend more time putting elaborate watermarks on their images than they do making images worth stealing. This led to a second thought that I don’t really recall ever seeing the photographs of famous art photographers with a gaudy watermark. This in turn led to one more thought…
Amen!
This isn’t targeted at anyone in particular, but I’m sure I’ll offend someone. When I see watermarks on photos - those of weather in particular for my field - I cry inside (and curse audibly). Copyright notices and watermarks are unnecessary, presumptuous, and ugly as sin. Their conspicuous presence guarantees that the original message and beauty conveyed by the photo is muted. The soul’s hope to fully absorb the wonder contained in one fleeting moment in time dies a horrible death.
Is that overstated? Probably. But then again, so is that watermark.
Nike, in a press release:
Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him. Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner.
Nike plans to continue support of the Livestrong initiatives created to unite, inspire and empower people affected by cancer.
In related news, Armstrong stepped down today as Chairman of the Livestrong Foundation:
I have had the great honor of serving as this foundation’s chairman for the last five years and its mission and success are my top priorities. Today therefore, to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship.
Phil Plait, Bad Astronomy, describes the cool video from astrophotographer Christoph Malin:
It’s called “The ISS Stacks” – instead of a normal time lapse where you take hundreds of still images and play them as individual frames of a video, he stacked them, so that each one adds to the last. It creates a dizzying, blurred version of reality that’s seriously trippy. See for yourself, but make sure it’s in HD and full screen first for maximum impact.
What an interesting idea. Check out the video.
Judith Herman, Slate:
The abstract-seeming images here are not the result of some wacky Photoshopping. Jay Mark Johnson’s photos are actually incredibly precise. The reason they look like this is because he uses a slit camera that emphasizes time over space. Whatever remains still is smeared into stripes, while the motion of crashing waves, cars and a Tai Chi master’s hands are registered moment by moment, as they pass his camera by. Like an EKG showing successive heartbeats, the width of an object corresponds not to distance or size, but the rate of movement. Viewing the left side of the picture is not looking leftward in space but backward in time.
Very cool. Check them out.
Felix Baumgartner, following his record-breaking skydive:
Let me tell you - when I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble. You don’t think about breaking records anymore, you don’t think about gaining scientific data - the only thing that you want is to come back alive.
In case you missed it, Baumgartner ascended for roughly three hours in a special pressurized capsule, lifted by a large helium balloon. Once he reached an altitude of 128,100 feet (over 24 miles), he leapt back to Earth. The descent took nearly ten minutes, during which he reached a maximum velocity of 833.9 miles per hour - making Baumgartner the first skydiver to break the sound barrier. Fittingly, he accomplished the feat on the 65th anniversary of Chuck Yeager becoming the first pilot to travel faster than the speed of sound.
Bad. Ass.
Today marked the tenth consecutive year that I’ve attended the Red River Rivalry between the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns. Besides the fried grilled cheese and Fletcher Corny Dogs, here are some tasty tidbits:
Stoops is now 9-5 against Mack Brown and responsible for three of Oklahoma’s five most lopsided wins over Texas - and that doesn’t include last year’s 55-17 clobbering.
[…]
Oklahoma ended up with a 677-289 advantage in total yardage, with 343 yards on the ground. A Texas defense that had high expectations at the start of the season has now given up 1,186 yards rushing in the past five weeks, with back-to-back losses that could knock them out of the Big 12 race.
Also of note:
One last point, BOOMER SOONER!
Diane Bartz, Reuters:
The majority of top decision-makers at the Federal Trade Commission believe that an antitrust case should be brought against Google Inc, meaning the search giant could soon be headed into tough negotiations, three people familiar with the matter said.
Uh oh.
NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission held an extreme weather photo contest. These are the winners. I’m partial to “Ormond Shelf”, by Jason Weingart.
