A High-Flying Merger

Today marked the announcement of the much anticipated merger agreement between satellite radio service providers, XM and Sirius. Under the agreement, Sirius will acquire rival XM for $4.6-Billion in stock. Neither company has yet to turn a profit, and a combination makes a lot of sense. Still, the merger will face opposition by other interests, such as terrestrial radio stations and others who fear a monopoly in satellite radio. The satellite providers say that there is no monopoly, in that they compete with every audio device out there, from iPods to CDs to standard radio.

I am mixed on this one, as I fear subscription prices will rise without the competition between the two; yet both of them are burning through a lot of money competing against each other. Such fears kept the proposed merger of Dish Network and DirecTV from gaining government approval a few years ago, resulting in the breakup of the deal.

So far, I have resisted the siren-call of satellite radio. Still, I would enjoy the variety of programming available on satellite, but I don't really want to pay another $12.95 every month. Terrestrial radio has gotten very homogenized and boring. I used to love listening to distant AM radio stations via atmospheric skip at night, a hobby called "DX-ing". When you hear the same syndicated program on another station that is now owned by Clear Channel Communications, it takes a lot of the fun from the effort.

Once the dust settles, I may yet succumb to the lure of satellite radio. I was once an early adopter. I have had satellite TV for ten years, owned a VCR shortly after they came out, and had a cell phone when they had a handset attached to a backpack-style unit by a cord. I have paid dearly over the years for the privilege of getting technology when it is still new. Circumstances and changing priorities have cured me of that. Things I would like, but are not a priority include not only satellite radio, but High Definition Television, a cell phone that does more than just make calls, and a car GPS navigation system. There was a time in my life when if these things were available, I would have had them. Now, I enjoy my standard definition TV, my plain old flip phone, and listen to AM radio going to work.

I still have satellite TV though. I cannot see going back to the way it was when I was a kid . . . three channels, all in beautiful black and white!

Lights Far & Near

Today has been a warmer and drier day than was expected here in Douglas County. As we get close to 7 PM and the sun beneath the mountains, the temperature is heading down for the night. Still, the partly cloudy skies at dusk cleared just a bit. I went out to watch the deer that come out to find food, and noticed the twilight sky. About 40 degrees or so above the horizon, Earth's closest neighbor, The Moon, was in a crescent phase. Just below it, our next closest neighbor in space, Venus, was shining in the sky.

I braced myself against a pole and shot a few photos. The one above gives a bit of perspective, as the blurred object on the left is the branch of a pine tree, while the dark, cloudy blob in the upper right is . . . a cloud.

In any case, here are some lights a lot closer to home than either The Moon or Venus. The picture below is taken on Mainstreet (yes, Parker spells it as one word) in downtown Parker. The flags are out because today is Presidents' Day. I'm old enough to remember when we had celebrations on February 12 for Lincoln's Birthday; and again on February 22 for Washington's Birthday. Now we lump them together, and I doubt many school children even know why.

A car went by as I was taking this one, so we have what appears to be a very fast car, but instead it is just the trail left by it's taillights during the exposure. It also looks like a motorcycle was coming the other way, because just above the taillight trails, you can see a white streak on the opposite side of the road.

Here's wishing you a very Happy Presidents' Day!

Pale Blue Dot

I hear the right wing talk radio people continually denigrating the idea that we need to take steps to act against the possibility of global warming. These people claim that humans cannot possibly harm the planet, that we are seeing normal cyclical climate change, and basically let's just use up our resources without regard for our children, grandchildren, and future generations.

Some people who think this way are just ill informed. Others are fundamentalists who are convinced the apocalypse is to happen within their lifetime, so it's okay to abuse the environment; just another danger of extremist religious views. You would think that the Biblical mandates to be good stewards over what God has provided would give these folks a different view. One would think that even if it is proven that we are seeing normal cycles of the climate, that such changes can have catastrophic outcomes for humanity. Yes, the earth will survive, but it could be without our species. Even if one doubts the reality of global warming, is it prudent to ravage and pollute the only place we have to live; our home, the planet Earth.

I am reminded of the profound words of Dr. Carl Sagan, who spoke about seeing a 1990 photo of our planet taken by Voyager I from 6.4-billion kilometers away; a tiny pixel of blue floating like a speck of dust in a sunbeam. These words have been well publicized, but they bear repeating. Dr. Sagan said:

We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors, so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.

Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

Words we would all be wise to ponder.

Ike & The Shamrock Hilton

My mention of President Eisenhower in the post below, made me think about a memorable experience back when I was in the first grade at Sutton Elementary School in Houston. This had to be in late 1959 or early 1960, so I was either 6 or 7 years old at the time.

My parents took the family (which at the time was Mom, Dad, me and my two sisters) to the venerable Shamrock Hilton Hotel in the Texas Medical Center to watch the President's motorcade go by. I can still vividly recall standing outside the Shamrock waiting for Ike to come by, and finding my teacher, Mrs. Webb, was there also.

Built in the 1940s as one of Houston's most elegant hotels, The Shamrock Hilton was torn down in 1987 to make room for a parking lot, much to the chagrin of many Houstonians who loved the old landmark, myself included. How sad to lose such a wonderful piece of Houston's recent history, and for a parking lot no less. Its spot near the corner of Holcombe Boulevard and South Main Street has never been the same since.

You can read more about the Shamrock at the Handbook of Texas Online by CLICKING HERE. To read about Sutton Elementary (which is still in operation) CLICK HERE. Interestingly enough, that history of the school even mentions the principal I remember, Raymond Roebuck.

More Bang for the Buck

Just a few miles up the road is Denver, Colorado, home of one of the two United States Mints that are producing the new dollar coins, which were introduced yesterday (the other is in Philadelphia). As you probably know by now, this is a new series of coins featuring the visages of the Presidents of the United States, produced in the order they held office, starting of course with George Washington.

The mint is hoping these new coins will be better received by the public, both as collectible and circulatory currency. The variety of the series raises hopes that they will replicate the popularity of the state quarter program. For collectors, I believe they may be correct. For wider use, I doubt it.

When I was a child, one could occasionally find a Silver Dollar in circulation, along with Mercury dimes, buffalo nickels, and of course, the ubiquitous wheat penny. Then along came the Eisenhower dollar which stuck with the large format of previous dollar coins. But the big change came with the introduction of the much maligned, smaller dollar featuring suffragette Susan B. Anthony.

This coin never caught on outside of a few vending machines and slot machines, because it was similar in size and appearance to the quarter. How many of us accidentally overpaid by using these coins thinking they were quarter dollars?

So, a few years back, the mint came up with the “golden” Sacagawea dollar coin. While easier to distinguish from a quarter due to its hue, it retained the size of the Susie B. coins, making it a direct replacement for vending machines. Yet despite a huge push to garner public acceptance, the Sacagawea dollar never caught on either.

Now we get the golden president dollar coins. I have no doubt collectors will pick them up, but they still have the issues of previous coins when it comes to circulation. Despite being smaller than the old Ike dollars, they are bulkier and heavier in the pocket than paper dollars.

Still, with inflation, I think the dollar coin could be viable. I think the solution is as follows:

• Stop issuance of the $1 bill and remove them from circulation
• Flood the market with the $2 bill, as this doesn’t even have the purchasing power the paper buck once had
• Reformat the $1 coin to be somewhere between the dime and the quarter in size, making it acceptable for pocket change
  

The third item is unlikely now that the mint has committed to, and started production of, the new presidential dollars. Still, if the first two ideas were implemented, both the $1 coin and the $2 bill would be widely used.

Yes, I have the answer, but alas, the people at the mint never asked my opinion.

The Not-So Great American Chocolate Bar

The layoffs continue at American companies, and the workers pay the price. Yesterday, it was Daimler-Chrysler announcing 13,000 workers at the Chrysler division will lose their jobs. Today, a less than sweet announcement from Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Hershey Foods, maker of what they once called “The Great American Chocolate Bar”, as well as a number of other confectionary treats they have absorbed over the years, is cutting 1,500 jobs from the payroll. Their market share has dropped, while the fortunes of rival Mars, Inc., maker of M&Ms and Snickers, have risen. This amounts to approximately a 12% reduction in staff for the Pennsylvania-based chocolatier. Interesting that it is announced on the day after Valentine's Day, one of the biggest chocolate-giving days on the calendar.

Hershey says it will also open a new, “cost-efficient” production plant in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. By cost-efficient, they certainly mean “cheaper labor”, with which the American worker cannot compete and maintain a middle-class lifestyle. The plan is to move ten percent of their U.S. production to the new plant, but I would look for that number to increase over time, perhaps even by the time the facility comes on line.

I understand we live in a global economy, and labor is one of the factors of production that are important to international trade. I even favor doing things to pump up the Mexican economy by creating opportunities within our southern neighbor's borders. Only when there is not such a disparity between the two country's economies will the rate of people entering the country illegally slow down. Still, we need to keep some good jobs here, as I really don't want the only jobs left to be the executives making millions for sending our jobs away; leaving the rest of us limited to employment where the only requisite skill is the ability to say, "Welcome to Wal-Mart!".

I suspect part of Hershey’s problems have less to do with competition than with quality. My wife and I both have noticed the taste and consistency of Hershey’s chocolate has changed over the years, and not for the better. It has a more waxy consistency than what I remember in years past, and the flavor is just not the same. I don’t think it is just my taster either, as the products from M&M / Mars still taste the same as they always did, and today, outshine the Hershey product.

Perhaps that is fitting that Hershey will be making more of its product in Monterrey, as chocolate was originally created by the Mayans and Aztecs of pre-Columbian times in the area now known as Mexico.

Frosted Trees

Just as we finally get a few days of melting, along comes another snow. Still, as long as it is not a blizzard, snow creates scenes that are very pleasing to the eye. Not much to say in this post, mainly just showing a couple of photos from this morning. The light flakes clinging to the bare branches of trees, giving them the appearance of being painted white; as well as gracing the evergreens with a icy frosting as well. Even though I am eager for Spring to arrive, I try to enjoy the beauty of each day, regardless of what conditions it brings. So for these scenes, thank you Jack Frost!

NASCAR, Sports, and a Geek!

I have to start this entry by stating that I am not, nor have I ever been, a fan of NASCAR. The idea of cars going around and around a track just doesn’t get me excited. In fact, the only reason I might ever consider going to a NASCAR race would be for any photographic opportunities that may occur. I am sure there would be chances for some interesting pictures, but other than that, the thought frankly bores me.

All that said, today I got an up close look at an actual car that will be used in the NASCAR circuit this year. This is because my employer is sponsoring a racing team, and to build excitement, they brought one of the cars to our building during the lunch break so that employees could get a closer look.

One thing that I found out is that even though NASCAR is an acronym for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, there seems to be little that is stock about these vehicles. They are basically built in a private shop by a racing team for competition on the circuit. In fact, if you look closely at the photo below, you will notice something fishy:



Did you catch it? The grille and lights are fake! They are all part of a full body wrap that is printed and placed on the car. There are not headlights on this car at all!

Also, being a bit picky here, but shouldn’t the organization be called either “National Association for Stock Car Racing” or “National Association for Stock Auto Racing”? Isn’t “Car Auto” a bit redundant?

So, I admit, I just don’t get it? I see pickups around town with Dale Earnhardt #3 decals placed there by fans. It seems that the late race car driver has been elevated to demigod status by his admirers. I still don’t get it. I mean, I am sorry that Mr. Earnhardt died in a horrible accident, but that is the risk of this “sport”. And I still don’t get it? What am I missing? I have nothing against NASCAR or its fans, but I gotta ask “WHY??”

Maybe I am just not the macho, into cars, Tim Allen tool man, OOOHHH OOOHHH, kind of guy who really gets a kick out of this. In fact, I know I am not. Tools? Not my thing. Machinery? I couldn’t care less. Memorizing the statistics of sports figures? Not unless I was in a fantasy league, and I have never done that. In fact, I have always loved reading the newspaper, but have always skipped the sports section. I never read it.

Around here, the Broncos are a religion. I am happy for them when they win, but it really doesn’t affect my life. Yet I know people who are in a deep, dark funk if they don’t win a game. I just don’t care that much. The players get paid megabucks to play a game, the owners get taxpayer funding to support their business, and yet normal people can’t afford to attend the games at the stadium they are paying for.

I’d rather pass the time looking at the world around me, taking photos, listening to music, playing my guitar, messing around on the computer, or even working crossword or sudoku puzzles.

Guess I am a geek. At least I know it!

A Notable Date in History

This date in 1809 saw the birth of two great men of history. In the still fledgling United States of America, Abraham Lincoln was born; while across the sea in England, Charles Darwin made his debut.

In a cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky, the man who would lead the U.S. through its most divisive era, and ultimately pay with his life at the hands of an assassin, was born to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. A self-made man, Lincoln grew up in what was considered the frontier, along the Ohio River areas of Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana. Lincoln’s tenacity to see that this nation “of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth”, insured the reality of “united” states, setting the stage for the later ascension of the country to a position of world leadership. It is highly possible that America as a fractured group of smaller nations, could not have achieved the things that have occurred since.

The day that Nancy Hanks Lincoln was giving birth in Kentucky, Susanna Darwin was delivering the fifth of her six children in Shrewsbury, England. Unlike the humble parentage of Lincoln, young Charles was born into privilege, as his father Robert was a doctor and financier. Robert, although a freethinker, acquiesced to social custom, having Charles baptized into the Anglican faith.
As an adult, Charles would sail the world on the H.M.S. Beagle, and made copious notes and observations about fossils and life forms on various islands along the way. Ultimately, Charles Darwin would craft his theory of natural selection and the evolution of life on this planet, greatly increasing our understanding of biology in his book, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. The religious found Darwin’s ideas to be an affront to God, and blasphemy. This struggle of scientific thought led to the famed Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tennessee; as well as the ongoing opposition by the fundamentalist Christians to the present. Old gods die hard, but just as the god of geocentrism was laid to rest by Copernicus, so Darwin has driven one of the first nails into the coffin of the concept of special creation.

Today we celebrate the lives and contributions of a great American statesman, and the Englishman who revolutionized how we understand the evolution of life on earth.

Happy 198th Birthday to President Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin!

A Sunday Stroll Around DU

This afternoon, my wife needed to visit the Sturm Law Library at the University of Denver. I took the opportunity to accompany her so that I could take a stroll around campus with my camera and take a few photos of the architecture there. The DU campus is home to a number of older buildings, but also has seen an explosion of new construction in recent years.

The photo to the left is the spire and tower at the Daniel L. Ritchie Center for Sports & Wellness. This tower is quite striking, with its gold roof that is visible for miles around. It is particularly noticeable at night, when floodlights illuminate it. Even though it is a couple of blocks off of Interstate Highway 25, it is quite visible from that thoroughfare.

The view of the sky behind the building portends the changing weather. Today's temperatures have reached into the 50s, giving much needed opportunity for snow to melt. But the clouds in the distance are the leading edge of a line of weather that has promised to bring more snow to the Denver metropolitan area for the next three days.

The next photo gives an altogether different view of the Ritchie Center. This is a window in a building on campus that lies across Evans Avenue to the south. Visible in the reflection in the window are the building for the Sturm School of Law which was built in 2003, along with the golden tower of the Ritchie Center. Just to the right of the gap between the panes of glass, you can see the right edge of the clock tower of the Sturm Law School.

The final picture I will show today was interesting, in that not only is it a beautifully designed building, but there is a jet flying above and behind the tower, leaving its contrail to mark its path through the azure Colorado sky. There is much more to see around DU, but this will at least give you an idea of the campus of this well-known and respected institution of higher learning.

Vermont, Pies, and Politics

Maybe it's the New England air, the green mountains, or just something in the water, but the state of Vermont seems to me like a progressive place. A state that elected people like Jim Jeffords and Howard Dean, and legalized same-sex civil unions back in 2000, is certainly not a red state.

The progressive attitude goes beyond pure politics, as it overlaps into the way Vermonters do business. Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's has started True Majority at www.truemajority.com, to promote progressive causes at a grassroots level. His animated short showing how to fund a better society is at http://www.truemajority.org/oreos/.

Another Vermont venture has a similar comparison on its website and on its product packaging. Vermont Mystic Pie Company (www.vermontmysticpie.com) not only makes a wonderful product, but has a pie chart on its boxes showing how the Pentagon takes about half of the budget of the United States. By reclaiming just 15% of the defense budget, we could do ALL of the following:

• Rebuild our public schools
• Retrain laid-off workers
• Begin to reduce the national debt
• Provide both health care and Head Start for every child in the U.S. that needs it
• Feed every starving child in the world's poorest nations
• Decrease our dependence on foreign oil

The company gives 10% of its profits to causes that support these goals. The Ben Cohen feature at the link higher up in this article, lays it out very clearly. I recommend you take a look.

All politics aside, the Vermont Mystic Pie Company makes a fantastic pie. Their products are Apple Pie, Blueberry with Apples Pie, and pie crusts. Their pies use wild Maine blueberries, apples from an ecologically-friendly orchard on Lake Champlain, and their wonderful flaky crust uses Grade AA butter from a farmer-owned cooperative. Best of all, not only are these the tastiest pre-made pies I have ever had, they are free of heart-clogging trans fats.

Let me add that I am in no way affiliated with Vermont Mystic Pie, but am pleased to recommend them, both for their pies and their activism. Check their website for a store that sells them near you. I got mine at Whole Foods.

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!