Christopher Merle

Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be, but first I need more coffee.

Category: LiveJournal (Page 23 of 27)

These are my posts imported from LiveJournal.

Prepare to drop your jaw but don’t leave your mouth open to long or something may fly in

May 20, 2010 /

In space there is no up or down, but when presenting an image from space which is going to have a bigger impact?

I think the way the human brain works the image on the right has a bigger impact. Our brains either evolved to see things with the horizon below or have been conditioned to do so since birth. So what are we looking at? This image is from a series of images recently taken by Cassini. It was doing a close flyby of Enceladus and as it flew past it caught sight of the geysers backlit and then Titan hove into view. Between Enceladus’s horizon and Titan are Saturn’s rings. Here’s a bigger version of the image and click on it to embiggen.




To see more images from the sequence including the geysers and details check out these two blog entries:

Cumbrian Sky: A new iconic image of the Space Age..?
Planetary Society Blog: The most amazing image of Enceladus Cassini has captured yet

I must say these images are absolutely stunning. I’ll even use the clichéd adjective jaw dropping to describe them.

Thanks for Sharking

May 17, 2010 /

I recently posted a video on my Facebook page. I shared it from a friend who’d posted it earlier. I made sure to acknowledge him by writing “thanks for sharking” in the post. I meant to write “thanks for sharing.”

Sometimes a typo presents you with an opportunity. What does or can “thanks for sharking” mean? Was it a Freudian slip? Could it be a portmanteau of sharing + snarking? No, that’d have to be shnaring or shhnarking. The video was one great big snark. And a snark is an aggressive parody. Usually short and to the point. This really wasn’t that short. And the video in a metaphorical sense smelled an opportunity, blood in the water for something asinine an organization did. It screamed out to be parodied. And like any good parodist or shark they go after it.

I probably shouldn’t over-analyze it, but I really really like it. My subconscious knows what it means. It’s there just below the surface. My initial thought was that it could be used as a insult against astroturfers, against concern trolls.

Release the Kagan

May 12, 2010 /

So this post will be a little more political than most. Elena Kagan was not my first choice from President Obama’s shortlist of SCOTUS nominees. Diane Wood would have been the best. Elena is probably the most centrist if not slightly right leaning choices Obama could have made. Of course the Republicans and the rightwing pundits will portray her as some crazy socialist lesbian without judicial experience. They are calling her Obama’s Harriet Miers. No Harriet Miers was the Sarah Palin of judicial nominees. Totally unqualified. This is almost as laughable as calling the BP Gulf Spill Disaster, Obama’s Katrina (Note- the right can call it Obama’s Katrina when he lets 1800 people die through negligence). The last Justice to sit on the SCOTUS who’d never had a judgeship before was Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Chief Justice Roberts sat on the bench for only 2 years before becoming CJ.

It wouldn’t have matter who President Obama nominated. The Republicans were going to object and try to sabotage the nomination. If Kagan is gay. So what? I would actually welcome an openly gay Justice. No one openly questioned Chief Justice Roberts’ heterosexuality.

quiche

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Release the Kagan
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party
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