What a trillion dollars looks like

Lots of people are passing this around, I figured I'd join them. Here is what a trillion dollars looks like.

Extremely dangerous

Geithner's Plan "Extremely Dangerous," Economist Galbraith Says

Might want to mute it first, it's a TechTicker article at Yahoo and that video player has an annoying habit of starting up without your explicit permission -- good article though.

Sunshine or Dark Star?

I just watched the old old ultra low-budget John Carpenter sci-fi "comedy" Dark Star. I thought it resembled the movie Sunshine a lot. A bit too much. One of the major characters in Sunshine is named Pinback(er). Yeah, definitely copied from it.

Anyway, found this review of Sunshine, which is spot on and pretty amusing. I don't recommend that you watch Sunshine unless you just want to look for analogies with Dark Star (and the fast-forward button in hand in both cases.)

A Day on Mercury

Try this flash animation to see what the sun does in the sky during a day on Mercury. I didn't know that.

A Day on Mercury

Automatic bailout machine

toothpastefordinner.com

No parking tree

There is really a No Parking tree. Sorbus Admonitor.

The tree, a deciduous hybrid related to the rowan, was first noticed in a small lay-by at Watersmeet in North Devon in the 1930s with a no-parking sign tacked to the bark.

It is only recently that scientists have undertaken a biochemical analysis to confirm the tree is a new species and it was formally named yesterday.

No photos unfortunately. Click through on the link for the full article (Telegraph.co.uk via mirabilis.ca)

Wind turbines

Great xkcd up now: http://xkcd.com/556/

They are unnerving.

New tip: Repairing "check for missing files failed" error on VMWare Fusion

I just added an article over on the EarthTrax site with some additional tips about debugging a VM on VMware Fusion that wouldn't start because of the "check for missing files failed" error. I had difficulty finding the fix by searching the usual places, so I thought I should post what I found out.

I want to scan all this content into this site

Someone get me a big scanner. I like this story.
Lost in the Archives (Chronicle Review, via Matthew)

Actually there's a lot that isn't on the Internet. And once you fly across the ocean in a cramped economy seat, arrive in Paris with your luggage and research notes, locate your rented apartment, renew your pass at the archives, secure a numbered spot in the crowded manuscripts room, find your documents in the catalogs, carefully write the shelf marks (call numbers) on the neat little forms provided for that purpose, and stand in line to hand your requests to the harried or indifferent clerk at the call desk — your work has only begun.

The quote of the day, but only when I feel like it

Only the mediocre are always at their best.
Jean Giraudoux

Pirate Bay

Awaiting the judges' ruling at the Pirate Bay trial (xkcd):

Avocado

Now really, that's an avocado costume, not a new fashion, isn't it?

Megan's grill

The Parable of Megan's Grill. An interesting discussion thread about credit and bankruptcy.

Watching the skies

You can use this page at the Heavens Above web site to find the location of one of the latest new astronomical features, the (in)famous "ISS tool bag" .

What fools we were to save

I was a fool

Spring is in the air

84F today, surpassing the previous record for the day of 78F (got the chart from Intellicast)

Happy days are here again

The approval of the stimulus plan may mean that the recession was already ending anyway, if history is any guide.

Remember This Catchphrase: "Maybe Too Little, Always Too Late" (Reason)