Rediscovering what they were supposed to already know

by TheMarque

1997 Warning on Deep Blowouts: ‘Options Are Limited’
[Via Dot Earth]

It should come as no surprise that experts in avoiding and stopping blowouts of oil and gas wells long ago saw the deep-ocean drilling frontier as particularly dangerous terrain.

[More]

As often happens in human endeavors, people get complacent and take shortcuts. The only way to prevent this is to make sure there is a cultural focus on doing it right. This often means that some people who fail to follow proper procedure need to be tried criminally.

And not just the poor guys on the platform but their bosses who pressured them.

Yep, I’m a liberal because I believe that might actually work. Well, it would actually work if we ever held anyone accountable. Lack of accountability by those in charge has been a hallmark of the last 20 years.

Snopes kills myths for people who seek a reality-based world

Snopes Shoots Down Latest Rightwing Myth
[Via Dispatches from the Culture Wars

I'm sure you've heard the latest one: President Obama is not going to be at Arlington National Cemetary on Memorial Day to honor the soldiers, he's sending Biden instead -- and this is the first time a president has ever snubbed the precious memories of dead heroes like this! Obama hates the troops!

Except, of course, this is utter bullshit. Snopes points out that not only is that false, it is routinely done by Republican presidents -- even conservative heroes like Ronald Reagan, who missed it four times in eight years. And you know who didn't miss a single Memorial Day at Arlington? Bill Clinton. Another stupid rumor shot to hell.

[More]

I use Snopes all the time when I get all sorts of emailed urban myths that people take for truth. First thing I do when I read one of these missives is check out Snopes. I’d say 90% of the time, the email is based on a total myth.

Yet, people would rather believe a falsehood and pass it on than simply do a little bit of fact-checking. Most people appear love it when something confirms what they already know, even if that something is factually wrong.

Such is the demonstration of rational-thinking skills by most Americans. I sometimes wish that people had to pass some sort of rational-thinking test in order to vote but I guess if we believe liberal democracy is the best political approach – and the fact that the number of such countries has doubled in the last 40 years or so – then we have to let idiots vote also.

The iPad is forcing the industry to regroup

by nDevilTV

Looking Silly, Indeed
[Via Daring Fireball]

Paul Thurrott, back on January 6, reporting from CES:

In the meantime, I wanted to briefly discuss some of the stuff Lenovo is doing. I spent about an hour and a half meeting with them this morning and while I am charitably described as a ThinkPad fanboy, the truth is, they just make the best notebooks on earth. And now they’re getting even better. It’s dizzying. I posted a bit about this yesterday, but there is so much going on here. In fact, their near-final version of a tiny notebook with a breakaway tablet screen absolutely kills anything Apple could possibly announce later this month. It’s not even close. […]

IdeaPad U1 hybrid notebook. Shipping in the second half of 2010, this is the device that will make Apple’s supposed tablet look silly. It’s basically a clamshell netbook-class computer running Windows 7. But you can pop-off the screen and use just that as a tablet.

Three days ago, Lenovo announced that they’re killing the product and starting over from scratch with Android.

[More]

To get an idea of what a gamechanger the iPad is you only have to look at the multitude of announced hardware that is being revamped or outright killed. HP’s Slate, which MS made such a big deal about – gone; maybe to be back with a whole new operating system. The MS Courier – gone. Fusion Garage’s JooJoo – less than a hundred sold. Lots of announcements for sale in September or later.

If you read news about tablets, everyone is announcing new approaches, because their old ones simply didi not compete with the iPad. Their battery life sucks. They weight more or they cost more. No one has yet provided a competing device that hits all the sweet spots the iPad does, and also includes an superior touch screen experience.

Android may be the only choice for many companies, as MS seems to be years away from a useful mobile, touchscreen interface. And HP bought the only other OS that has any chance of competing with the iPhone OS.

Competition is good but these guys have to really hurry because time does march on.

For now, having to revamp may have a huge effect on one important event – the Holiday season. It seems unlikely that many of the serious competitors can get a device redesigned to effectively compete with the iPad, and get the marketing engine going, in time for the Holiday rush.

This can push back any real competition for market share on iPads quite a bit. And by next year, I expect we will be almost onto the 3rd version of the iPad, while others are still on their first. Apple is not siting still with the iPad.

So, not only does the competition have to match or exceed what the iPad has now, but they also have to be creative enough to set themselves on a path to compete with where the iPad will be a year from now.

How many iPads would have been sold in a normal economy?

Apple Sells Two Million iPads in Less Than 60 Days
[Via Apple Hot News]

Apple today announced that iPad sales have topped two million in less than 60 days since its launch on April 3. “Customers around the world are experiencing the magic of iPad, and seem to be loving it as much as we do,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We appreciate their patience, and are working hard to build enough iPads for everyone.”

[More]

That has to be over $1 billion in 2 months. Not to bad for something many people called just a big iPod touch. I have found that I use my iPad for times when it is just too inconvenient to lug my laptop. Like eating lunch at a cafe. I can have my laptop out and up, connected to their WiFi and be checking emails, news, or playing a quick game, all in the time it would have taken me to get my laptop out and start it up.

And my iPad can do this over multiple days without needing any charging. I use my iPhone for times when I can not access WiFi, although those are getting fewer in number

I’m finding that there are lots of times during the day when I simply do not need the heavy lifting that a laptop or desktop provides. Now if they could just add a couple of new things – printing is one, and it sounds like it may come shortly; and wireless transfer of files. Having to go through iTunes can be a pain. And it would be nice to be able to transfer files from one iPad to another.

Finally, it would be nice to have a wireless phone company in the US allow tethering of an iPhone to an iPad. That would be very nice.

Science is still apparently a partisan issue

by Listener42

BREAKING: Third time’s a charm, Congress passes science act
[Via Bad Astronomy]

After Republicans twice stalled it, the America COMPETES Act was passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 262-150.

Hurray!

I have the history of this bill outlined in an earlier post. It failed the first time it went to vote because a Republican Congressman used some shameful politics to derail it, and the second time because to bring the Act to the House Floor for a vote, the Democratic majority had to put it in to pass with a 2/3 majority. Too many Republicans still voted against it, claiming it was too much spending.

That, to be blunt, is garbage. This Act makes sure we have enough money funding science and technology to grow our economy. Not passing it would be like eating your seed corn. As Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) says,

“It shouldn’t take three votes to pass legislation to support the research vital to long term economic growth. If half of economic growth in the last half century is attributable to technological developments and innovations, then we can’t afford to presume that U.S. leadership in innovation is a given. If we intend to lead the global economy, we must tend to our innovation infrastructure, as this bill does.”

[More]

I wrote about the antics of the Republicans with regard to this bill a week or so ago. Once again, while the GOP voted overwhelmingly for this just a few years ago, essentially all of them voted against this now. They stopped the bill twice before, even after the Democrats altered the bill because of Republican concerns.

All 150 no votes were Republican. Only 17 members of the GOP voted for this. Even after several weeks of voting and compromise, there was little movement.

As I said before, scientific research used to have bipartisan support. Now it is just a political football with the GOP trying to play the role of Lucy. Perhaps someday the Democrats will realize that Lucy ALWAYS pulls the football away and simply not negotiate with them at all.