Cool Slide Rules

When I took college physics back in 1971, we had to master the ways of the slipstick, the good old reliable slide rule. I grew up around these interesting devices, as my dad's profession was that of a mechanical engineer. These logarithmically-scaled tools of mathematicians, engineers and physicists are quite interesting once you understand what is going on, and how logarithms allow you to perform a variety of calculations.

No, the precision of a modern calculator isn't there; you had a limited number of decimal places for precision, and often had to derive numbers as scientific notation. You also had to keep up with where the decimal place was so as to get the correct mantissa. This resulted in two types of professors: those who gave partial credit for answers derived using the slide rule, but with the decimal misplaced; and those who counted the entire answer wrong, even if you had the right digits.

At first, many schools and testing centers were slow to embrace new technology, eschewing the use of electronic calculators, and requiring proficiency with the slide rule. Eventually, the precision and ease of calculators won out, and the slide rule quickly exited the scene, both in academia and in the business world.

Back in my college days, a simple four function calculator was still a novelty, and sold for around one hundred U.S. dollars. Today, you can get them for 99¢ at Wal-Mart, and they don't even need batteries, running instead on light.

If you want to try your hand as a slide rule and don't have one, don't worry. Just CLICK HERE to find links to seven different virtual slide rules, along with instructions and tricks you can do with these remarkable little marvels. Or just CLICK HERE to go directly to one of them. This is about the coolest web application I have seen! Just drag your mouse to move the sliding part or the glass cursor, and you are computing.

Happy Sliding!

Can the News Get Any Weirder?

You know, you really can't make up things any more weird than the stories in the news. We have a married female astronaut putting on a diaper, driving from Houston to Florida to allegedly kill a rival for the affections of another astronaut. I have heard of compulsive gamblers wearing diapers so they don't have to get up from their “lucky” slot machine, and as crazy as that sounds, this one is even more odd. Obviously, this is a person who has no business at the controls of a space shuttle. She must have been very good at giving all the right answers on her personality profiles at NASA, or she has just recently gone off the deep end.

Then we have the sad tale of Ted Haggard, the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals, the founding pastor of the huge New Life Church in Colorado Springs, and confidant of President Bush. Haggard, as has been widely reported, was exposed for carrying on a homosexual affair with a male prostitute, buying drugs from him, and in general, living a double life. I can only imagine the cognitive dissonance Haggard must have been living with, but what made it even more bizarre is that he was a vocal opponent of equal rights for gays.

Now, after three weeks of a restoration ministry, Haggard has declared the process has convinced him he is “completely heterosexual”. Somehow, if he were completely heterosexual, I doubt he would have carried on a gay affair for several years. While I don't believe being gay is something someone chooses, preaching one thing and doing another is absolutely wrong. I also find it incredible that someone would make a crusade of denying equal rights to homosexuals, all the while maintaining a gay relationship.

Obviously, the former pastor has been wrestling with his own set of issues, but I hope that his exposure as a hypocrite will serve to teach people that those to whom we look for guidance are often not at all qualified to give advice. Sometimes, such gurus are far less qualified counsel than if we just develop and use our own critical thinking skills.

Front Range Tornado

Tornadoes are powerful and fascinating storms. I have had several close encounters with them, and while I have a healthy respect for these phenomena, I also am drawn to them. When I was in high school, a waterspout (tornado over water) chased our deep-sea fishing trip further out into the Gulf of Mexico. That one was created by the approaching Hurricane Camille. When I lived in Houston, a tornado ripped the roofs off of houses across the street from mine, but left my side of the street intact. Then in Tulsa, I have had several close encounters, including a funnel cloud that passed over our house, sucking the air up the chimney and taking your breath away, and tearing down the fence in my backyard.

In the last decade, the Oklahoma City area has been hit by F-5 tornadoes that did tremendous damage, especially to the suburb of Moore. That outbreak on May 3, 1999, destroyed an outlet mall I used to shop at when I lived in Tulsa. Halfway between Oklahoma City and Tulsa is the town of Stroud, which was home to the Tanger Outlet Mall along I-44, the Turner Turnpike. It was taken down by a tornado on the same day as a wide area across Moore and Midwest City were swept away.

The eastern plains of Colorado get quite a few powerful tornadoes as you get closer to Kansas. One example was the 1990 tornado that destroyed much of the town of Limon. Closer to the Rocky Mountains, we tend to have less powerful tornadoes, but they are interesting nonetheless. This picture is one I took as a funnel cloud was forming between Parker and Franktown. This shot is looking toward the south from Stroh Road near its intersection with Parker Road (Colorado Highway 83). It was a stormy, late afternoon a couple of summers ago, and the clouds were moving very fast and displaying great amounts of turbulence. Several of these had formed, and a couple had touched down. This was just a case of being in the right place at the right time to capture the picture.

I have found out that there are storm chasing vacations you can take, going along on tornado chases and getting up close and personal with these monsters of nature. Sounds like more fun than a Caribbean Cruise, don't you think?

Pictures on a Foggy Day

Robert Frost said that "Good fences make good neighbors", and while he was undoubtedly right, fences can also make for interesting pictures. This is one from the end of last winter, taken a couple of days before the vernal equinox. It is not uncommon in Colorado to get snow in March & April, but the snowy days come between beautiful, springlike days.

This fence along a pasture just outside of Parker was interesting to me, because of the lines and angles created by the wood, along with the rails moving toward convergence as they get further away from the point of the viewer.

On the morning I took this picture, I went out fairly early and found quite a few good subjects. There was a dense fog in the air and a very light snow coming down. The fog made distant objects in some of the pictures take on a diffused look; a type of natural photo filter. This effect can be seen in the picture to the right of Douglas County Road 103. The posts on the other side of the road look very diffused by the fog, and the road quickly disappears into the fog as well.

Sometimes people think you can't take pictures because it isn't a pretty day with sunny skies and good conditions. Actually, some really interesting shots can be had on those days that you would never consider for a picnic. Keep your eyes and imagination active. You could find a picture whose mood and tone would be impossible to capture on a sunny day.

Clouds, Sunset, and a Great Little Camera

Digital SLR camera's are hard to beat, but they are not always the easiest thing to carry. That is why I am glad I have my little 5 megapixel point and shoot digital camera. It is small enough to always be at hand when a good photo opportunity presents itself.

This picture was taken with that camera, a 3-year-old Gateway DC-T50. It was one of those rare moments of serendipity where you see something and think, "That would make a good photo." If I hadn't had this little camera with me, the picture would have been missed.

I enjoy the sky and clouds, because there are so many different cloud types, and so many colors depending on time of day and weather conditions. This one was taken last March in Douglas County, Colorado.

Bitter Cold on Groundhog Day!

Well, this is what they mean by bitter cold. So far, we have had seven straight weeks with snowfall, two of them blizzards. We have had ups and downs in temperature. Yet last night set a new record. Denver officially recorded a new record low of 18 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, with a windchill factor of 30 below! Now the forecasters are claiming tonight could be colder and windier.

What do temperatures like this do? Well, for one thing, the power lines for Denver's light rail train snapped yesterday because of the cold, causing train passengers to be shuttled by bus to a different station. It is so cold that the dog doesn't want to go outside. You know, if I had to do my business outside in this, I think I'd rather hold it in also!

We are predicted to creep above the freezing point sometime next week. Till then, dress in layers and bundle up. Today is Groundhog Day, and Punxsutawney Phil has prognosticated an early arrival of spring. At least the groundhog is optimistic about it.

The Passing of a Political Commentator

A sad story in the news today is the loss of a great lady of American journalism. Reporter, columnist, author, and political humorist Molly Ivins lost her battle with breast cancer late yesterday afternoon at her home in Austin, Texas.

Her witty and quotable observations on politics, both national and within Texas, exposed many emperors without clothes over the years. While she leaned to the left politically, she skewered the absurdity of politicians of both major parties. Molly cut through the bull and went straight to exposing the self-serving and just plain odd things that politicians do and say. In my opinion, Molly Ivins filled the empty shoes of Will Rogers, using humor, intelligence, and the deft turn of the phrase to make her points about politics.

President Bush, dubbed "Shrub" (for "little Bush") by Molly was a frequent target of her columns. We would all be wise to heed the words of her column of January 11, urging Americans to resist the President's plan to escalate the war in Iraq:

We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war," Ivins wrote. "We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, 'Stop it, now!'

Molly Ivins was 62 years old.

Coyote Breakfast

Robert G. Ingersoll, "The Great Agnostic" and renowned orator of the 19th Century, wrote these words in 1872, regarding the so-called merciful design of creation by God:

Who can appreciate the mercy of so making the world that all animals devour animals; so that every mouth is a slaughter house, and every stomach a tomb?

On the way to the office this morning, I saw an example of the food chain of which Ingersoll wrote. A coyote was standing across the street from the prairie dog town where I shot the photo a couple of posts down the page. All of a sudden, he darted across the street, and was chasing a prairie dog back and forth, trying to have the little creature for breakfast. I very much wished that I had the speed and position to capture the episode in photo or video, but as it all happened within a few short seconds, there was no opportunity. I didn't even get to see if the prairie dog escaped to live another day, or if he was eaten by the hungry young coyote. Sad indeed it is that life must consume life to sustain itself. Yet that is the way of life on earth, and for every predator there is another lifeform for which it is prey.

It is good to be at the top of the food chain. I definitely want to stay there!

Castlewood Canyon

While it is not the Grand Canyon of Arizona, or even Palo Duro Canyon of the Texas Panhandle, just a few miles south of Franktown, Colorado lies Castlewood Canyon State Park. This canyon is adjacent to Colorado Highway 83, and has quite a bit of scenic beauty in its own right. Highway 83 is a main artery between Denver and Colorado Springs. It runs parallel to, and to the east of Interstate Highway 25 by several miles. From Parker to the north side of Colorado Springs it is a 2-lane highway.

Currently the entire area remains under a blanket of snow, so let's go back to last April. Here is a picture I took there of a scraggly-looking pine growing out of the rocky ground. I particularly like the clouds in the sky in this shot, with their wispy appearance.

Below are a couple of other trees in the park that have seen better days. Still, they provide nice photos. As usual, you may click on these pictures for a larger version.

WInter Wildlife

Winter is not easy on the animals this year. Ranchers in eastern Colorado have lost untold numbers of cattle to the blizzards, and even the wildlife is finding it difficult to find food. Every morning on the way to work, I have seen families of deer out searching for something to eat. As we are finally seeing some melting between our intermittent snows, some plants are able to reach above the white stuff that is still all over the ground here. This is providing the deer with a better chance at finding a meal.

I watched as the deer in the photograph above nibbled on some plants and then used its front paws to carve out a bed in the snow. It worked on it for a minute or so, then laid down.



The prairie dog tends to hibernate during the winter months, but there were a few out and about, scurrying around on the surface of the snow today. This one watched to insure that I posed no threat to the colony. It did start twitching its tail to notify the others of an intruder, but made no effort to run away, as I got no closer.

It is always interesting to see what is all around, if you just take the time to look and not be in to much of a hurry to enjoy the things that are there.

Going to the Boneyard

Alabama sang "If you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band". I would add that if you're gonna play a game in Texas, you had better own a box of dominoes, or "bones"! From old men sitting around in small town ice houses playing straight dominoes, to clubs dedicated to playing "42", dominoes are a part of life in Texas and Oklahoma.

Some of my earliest childhood memories include playing regular dominoes with my father and grandfathers, and watching the adults gather four to a table for a competitive round of 42. To this day, the sound of dominoes shuffling on the table bring back a lifetime of memories of days and people long gone.

While I still like regular dominoes, I absolutely love 42. Unfortunately, it is apparently not played much in Colorado. Story has it that the game was invented by a Baptist boy whose parent's would not let him play cards, believing them to be a tool of Satan. Forty-two does have much in common with some popular card games, including the use of trumps, capturing "tricks", and bidding. Terms like "I'll start it", "Low-boy", and "Follow me" have meaning to the 42 afficianado.

While scoring can be done by keeping track of numeric values of bids made and lost, everyone I know uses the ALL method. Each successful bid earns one "mark", which is one of the lines in the letters "ALL". If your opposing team gets ALL before you and your partner gain a single mark, you have been skunked!

The dominoes in the picture above are like the ones I remember from early childhood. They are made of wood painted black, with the dots or "pips" recessed and painted with white enamel. The reverse always had an emblem of some sort embossed into the wood. The set in the picture was made by Halsam, and contained an eagle with arrows in its talons. I also remember a set that had a lion emblem on the back.



Sometime during my late childhood, these wooden dominoes became less popular, as Puremco of Waco, Texas produced what they called "Marble-like Dominoes". These came in a variety of colors, and were made of a durable plastic that was, well, kind of like marble. These came in chipboard boxes coated with a textured surface. I used to have a set, but over the years, they have gotten away from me. I am seriously thinking about ordering myself a new set HERE, and maybe even getting them personalized.

While there are other games with dominoes that have come into vogue, such as Chickenfoot and Mexican Train Dominoes, nothing beats a good round of 42!

As for me, I think I'll bid 84!

Road Rage Verdict

America is in too big of a hurry. People will drive like maniacs, run red lights, speed, tailgate, push ahead, and generally shout to the world "Me first! I'm more important than anyone else!" As I have gotten older, I have gotten much more mellow about most things, and especially about driving. I find myself much more at peace and able to enjoy the world around me by not being in such a big hurry. Aggression behind the wheel is deadly.

Yet sometimes it even becomes more than just pushing the envelope while driving. It becomes reckless endangerment, and even homicide. A case in point was made today in Arapahoe County, Colorado court, where Parker resident, Jason Reynolds, was found guilty of first degree murder, vehicular homicide, and careless driving resulting in death. From all reports, Reynolds is a sociopath who has a history of tailgating, running up against people and cutting in front of them and immediately slamming on his brakes. Various witnesses testified to his history of aggression behind the wheel.

On November 8, 2005, he pulled the brakes stunt on 50-year-old Kelvin Norman of Highlands Ranch while the two were driving on the E-470 Tollway. To avoid hitting Reynolds, Norman took evasive action and lost control of his car. The vehicle became airborne and landed on top of another vehicle on the other side of the tollway, killing its driver, Greg Boss, 35, of Lone Tree.

The wreck was gruesome, and shut down the highway for quite some time. Two tow truck drivers who worked the scene of the accident testified that Reynolds said, "They got what they deserved". His callous disregard for what he caused and the human lives impacted is beyond understanding. The prosecutor noted that Reynolds' comments clearly show his depravity. She is right.

He now faces the potential of life in prison. It is my hope that this man is never let loose again. He has proven himself a danger to others. We may now say to Mr. Reynolds, "You got what you deserve".

The Denver Post article about the conviction can be read by CLICKING HERE.
The Rocky Mountain News article is HERE. CBS4's coverage is HERE.