Archive for May, 2008
A Petawatt of Laser Power
Closed Published by Tom May 30th, 2008 in Government, Rochester, Science, TechnologyThe University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics has just put their new Omega EP Laser on line with a petawatt (10 to the 15th) of power. They hope to kick off fusion reactions with the powerful beams of light.
I’ve toured the lab multiple times. They have a basement full of large capacitors to [...]
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Originally uploaded by tommasz
Parts of the structure over Manhattan Square Park, downtown Rochester, NY.
Speed Graphic, Ilford Pan F ISO 50, 6×7, K1 filter, f16 @ 1/25, scanned from the negative.
Dior Drops Actress From Ads After China Remarks
Closed Published by Tom May 30th, 2008 in Fail, Freedom, Funny, GovernmentGosh, I hope the Chinese don’t boycott my weblog for posting this link to Sharon Stone.
Kid Croc
Originally uploaded by tommasz
One kid-sized Croc.
The Albany County Supreme court has found Dell guilty of fraud, false advertising, deceptive business practices and abusive debt collection practices in a case brought by the New York attorney general. Dell, of course, claims their practices are in line with industry standards. Which I’m sure is true. Sadly.
Private Donor Gives Fermilab $5 Million
Closed Published by Tom May 29th, 2008 in Government, SecurityIt’s the only particle physics lab in the US, but Congress has been cutting the budget of Fermilab to the point they were laying off staff and cutting back hours. Now a private donor has come up $5 million, enough to get everyone back to fulltime (but not to save all the jobs). Fermilab is [...]
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Originally uploaded by tommasz
The Pansy Bed in Highland Park, Rochester NY. Kiev6C, 80mm MC Volna and Kodak 400UC.
Big Blue encourages their employees to use social media while The Big Company blocks anything that might even resemble social networking. Go figure.
Two lives, one Social Security number
Closed Published by Tom May 28th, 2008 in Fail, Government, Privacy, SecurityYou would think it would be impossible for two people to have the same Social Security Number. It’s not.
My wife’s SSN was stolen when she was in college. RIT used it for your student number and most professors posted grades on their office doors with the student number instead of the name. A guy [...]
US complains that EU tech tariffs violate WTO agreement
Closed Published by Tom May 28th, 2008 in Fail, Government, TechnologyIt’s like this. Europe doesn’t manufacture much in the way of high tech devices and doesn’t do much innovation. So in order to generate revenue, they impose high tariffs on imports. This happens despite the fact they signed an agreement in 1996 not to do that. I guess the need for cash trumps legality every [...]
The “Chicken Project” Put On Hold
Closed Published by Tom May 28th, 2008 in Health, Rochester, ScienceLet’s be honest, most people have only a vague notion of where there food comes from. Until I went on vacation to Vermont as a kid, I had never seen a live cow and that was over thirty years ago. So when a local school created an elective ecology class that involved raising a chicken [...]
I’m working on building up the suspense but you know there has to be a punchline eventually. A terrible, horrible punchline.
