Monthly Archives: February 2010

Colorado Libertarian Party: Democrats deaf to Citizen pleas against Tax increases

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From the official Colorado Libertarian Party blog, Jan. 31:

The dozen tax increases, House Bills 1089 - 1200, are fast tracked and have now made it to the Colorado House, where they will pass as democrats hold the majority. They will then have to get through the Senate.

Wednesday, 250 people attended the committee hearing, 30 were government and non-profit lobbyists funded by taxes, the other 220 were taxpaying citizens opposed to the tax increases. It didn't make one bit of difference to the democrat committee members who all approved the unconstitutional measures (the Dems argue that because they are lifting an "exemption", these are not "new" taxes subject to a vote by the people - as TABOR requires), while all the republicans opposed the bills.

Economic impact out of taxpayer's pocket is estimated at $130 -140 million, annually.

Political backlash will be the only bright spot as people realize they'll now pay sales tax on paper bags at the grocery store, higher food prices from additional burden on farmers and ranchers who pass the cost on to food consumers, plus many other ways to reach into taxpayer's pocketbooks

Recovery Act Funds Go To NewSpace Crew Studies

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NASA Selects Commercial Firms to Begin Development of Crew Transportation Concepts and Technology Demonstrations for Human Spaceflight Using Recovery Act Funds

"Through an open competition for funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, NASA has awarded Space Act Agreements to Blue Origin of Kent, Wash.; The Boeing Company of Houston; Paragon Space Development Corporation of Tucson, Ariz.; Sierra Nevada Corporation of Louisville, Colo.; and United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colo. The agreements are for the development of crew concepts and technology demonstrations and investigations for future commercial support of human spaceflight."

DIY, uh, Three-Pendulum Rotary Harmonograph [DIY]

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If you're like me, you looked at this picture and the name "Three-Pendulum Rotary Harmonograph" and felt confused and a little bit threatened. But fear not! Turns out it's one of those fun spirograph-like things you see at science museums.

Unlike a spirograph, a harmonograph uses pendulums (instead of human effort—I mean, I'll go to the gym if I'm gonna work out, know what I mean?) to create its elegant Lissajous curves.

This one uses three pendulums, which creates some pretty complex and cool-looking patterns, even better than the clear plastic spirograph I used in third grade. The project isn't even all that hard: Looks like it takes a bit of careful balancing, but the actual construction is pretty standard woodshop kind of stuff. Pretty cool! [Karl Sims via MAKE]


Illinois GOP candidate for Mark Kirk seat, Dr. Arie Friedman; phase-out Medicaid, private voucher system for Medicare

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by Eric Dondero

Today is Republican Primary Day in the State of Illinois. All the attention is focused on the big Governor's race, and the even bigger Senatorial contest for Barack Obama's old seat. Tea Party Patriots and libertarians are pulling for Adam Andrzejewski for Governor. On the Senate side Congressman Mark Kirk has it in the bag, leading his nearest opponent by some 30 points in the latest polls.

But who will take the Kirk seat?

Some reports suggest Dr. Arie Friedman has had a late surge in a field of 6 in this Republican-leaning district. Friedman is a bit of a reluctant candidate having had qualms of leaving his medical practice. Like Kirk he's a Military combat Vet, having served in Desert Storm. He's also a staunch supporter of both the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Like Andrzejewski, he's become the leading favorite of Tea Partiers.

No doubt the support was gained for his outspoken fiscal conservatism. Friedman told the Chicago Tribune:

We need to immediately freeze federal spending. We should use tax cuts to increase revenue (remember the Laffer Curve?). My cuts would include a one year payroll tax holiday, decreased corporate tax rates, elimination of the death tax, stopping “tax and trade,” and stopping “healthcare reform” with its plethora of new taxes. Spending cuts should include the elimination of Medicaid and its replacement with a sliding-scale catastrophic care safety net. We need a line-by-line examination of the budget – nothing stays if it cannot be shown to serve the purpose of improving the lives of the American people. NO MORE EARMARKS!

More specifically on Medicare:

For Medicare, everyone within 20 years of receiving Medicare should get what they are expecting – the rest of us should be moved to a Medicare Advantage-like system and receive vouchers for competitive insurance plans.

We'll see later tonight, if Northshore Illinois Republicans are willing to move from a moderate-to-conservative Republican as their representative, to a libertarian-conservative budget slasher?

What Keyboard Are You Using? [Qotd]

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Some are frequent keyboard switchers, some are faithful to a single peripheral. But we all still believe that there's a perfect keyboard out there somewhere. While we're searching for it we want to know: What are you typing on?

Are you a sucker for that satisfying clickety-clack of an old IBM keyboard or is it all about an input device that matches your decor? Tell us what you're using and why. Bonus points if you include pictures of your keyboard setup in the comments.

Picture by theopie


Libertarian Republican leader: Palin’s backing of Paul just enhanced her standing with GOP’s libertarian wing

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A great positive for both the Rand Paul and Sarah Palin movements

Statement from Republican Liberty Caucus National Chairman Dave Nalle:

Palin’s current political destiny is unknown, but by endorsing Rand Paul she both enhances her credentials with the libertarian wing of the GOP and also helps out a worthy candidate. She accompanied her endorsement with a donation from her PAC. Paul has also been endorsed by many other liberty-oriented groups including the Republican Liberty Caucus and FreedomWorks.

Paul repaid Palin with effusive praise, commenting that:

“Governor Palin is providing tremendous leadership as the Tea Party movement and constitutional conservatives strive to take our country back…Sarah Palin is a giant in American politics. I am proud to receive her support.”

RLC.org

Acer Will Not Release Tablet Competition for the iPad [Acer]

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Acer, in contrast to what we'd heard before, has just said that they'll not be making a tablet to compete with the iPad, instead focusing on ultra-thin laptops. Acer sees these ultra-thins, including many that will run Google Chrome. Acer was cock-sure enough to mention that an iPad-like tablet "would not pose any technical challenges for Acer," but that that design just doesn't fit into their business model right now. Bet Apple's letting out a big old "phew!" in Cupertino about that one. [Digitimes via Engadget]


China Using Freebie Flash Drives to Spy on Britain [Espionage]

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UK security agency MI5 has issued a warning regarding freebie flash drives and cameras. Apparently Chinese spies are handing them out to UK businessmen in hopes of infecting their computers with trojans and gaining access to corporate secrets.

Of course old-fashioned methods—sex and money—are still being used as well, but it seems that few people expect an innocent gadget gift to contain danger in the form of a trojan or malware. After all, why else would a security agency's 14-page report be focusing on this espionage approach more than it did on other tricks?

I guess it's time for me to become a bit more paranoid about the pile of flash drives I picked up at CES. [Times Online via IEEE]

Note: Pictured flash drive is not a known spy and belongs to Gadget_Guru


the context is decisive

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While thinking about the news on the NASA budget today, I thought of the following story.

One time back in the 1960s, a NASA employee was roaming the halls of Kennedy Space Center.  He came across a group of three janitors cleaning a restroom.  Given his friendly nature, he stopped and approached the first one who seemed particularly dour.

“How’s it going?” he asked.  In response, the first janitor growled “How do you think it is going?  I’m stuck here cleaning toilets.”

Shocked, the employee decided to talk to the second janitor.  This guy seemed a little more excited about what he was doing.

“Hey, what are you doing?” he asked.  The second janitor looked at him with a spark of hope in his eye.  “I’m feeding my family,” he said.

Intrigued, the employee decided to go say hi to the third janitor.  This guy was humming and smiling while he was cleaning the restroom.

“Why are you so happy?” the employee asked.  The third janitor replied with a grin “because I’m sending man to the moon!”

The message?  The context is decisive.  In our lives, we control how we react to and how we perceive the world.

The new NASA budget is likely to bring out lots of folks living from different contexts.  Some of those will look like ”The Constellation Program shouldn’t be canceled” or “We are losing jobs in my state” or “We have no mission, no direction.”

I choose a different context:  the new budget is an opportunity.  An opportunity to transform our planet’s future in space.  An opportunity to engage the global community on a journey of exploration.

That sounds like fun.  What is your context?

Here Comes the Google Apps Store [Unconfirmed]

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The WSJ says Google's launching an online store to sell software add-ons and bonus powers for Google Apps written by third-party developers—like more, um, secureness and other enterprise features—which Google's announcing in March.

At the beginning, it'll be just enterprise stuff that are add-ons for Gmail and Docs, etc., sold through a now conventional setup: Users buy the apps, written by other developers, through Google's store, and Google takes a cut. To be clear, it's a move intended to bulk up its assault on Microsoft Office with more features and capabilities, more than anything else. (Is extensive modularity and add-ons, which introduce more potential points of failure what businesses really want in their enterprise apps? Hmm.) But don't worry, Google wants to keep giving you, the normal person, their software for free, to make money on advertising. So click click click away. Google won't be selling you apps anytime soon. Probably, anyway. [WSJ]


Teen’s Science Fair Project Sends Text Messages from 1,000 Feet Underground [Radio]

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Sixteen-year-old Alexander Kendrick has put together a low-frequency radio which allows for the transmission of text messages from caves nearly 1,000 feet underground. I still can't get a single bar of reception on the subway.

Aside from updating Twitter with messages of "It's dark in here" while spelunking, Kendrick's science fair-winning cave-texting device could actually help save lives. Underground rescues in caves or mines are time consuming and dangerous ventures because of the rescue teams' inability to communicate well—unless they lay down miles of telephone line as a rescue team in new Mexico once did. With this cave-texting system, rescuers would be able to maintain contact and potentially get medical aid where it's needed a heck of a lot faster.

Of course Kedrick's project isn't the first cave radio, but its test was actually "the deepest known underground digital communication ever to take place in the United States." I hope the text was "Hello World." [NPR via Slashdot via Make]

Photo by Brad Horn.


Assorted NASA Budget Reaction Stories

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- White House cancels NASA Constellation program; local impact unclear, Crain's Cleveland Business
- Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle promises "communitywide effort" to restore Ares I program, Huntsville Times
- NASA budget for 2011 eliminates funds for manned lunar missions, Washington post
- Obama budget would cut moon exploration program, CNN
- NASA budget cut would hit ATK, Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal
- Report: NASA moon mission cut, Stennis impact unclear, WLOX
- Texas lawmakers balk at cutting manned spaceflight, Dallas Morning News
- Obama Kills NASA Moon Plan, Farms Out Space Ferry, Business Week

ATK Fights Back

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ATK Issues Response to GFY11 NASA Budget Proposal

"To abandon Ares I as a baseline vehicle for an alternative without demonstrated capability nor proven superiority (or even equivalence) is unwise and probably not cost-effective." In the weeks and months ahead we are hopeful that the Congress and Administration will work together to deliver a budget that supports a program that capitalizes on the investments the nation has made in the Constellation program, closes the gap in US capability to return to space, and best assures continued US leadership in space. We believe ATK will continue to play a significant role in America's future space exploration."

Tea Party leader Sarah Palin endorses Libertarian Republican Rand Paul

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Rand Paul for US Senate HQ
David Adams

National political icon and conservative leader Sarah Palin has endorsed Dr. Rand Paul in his bid for United States Senate from Kentucky. The Paul campaign has received a generous donation from Governor Palin’s PAC.

Sarah Palin has clearly seen that Rand Paul supports smaller, constitutional government and is taking the fight to the career politicians and will shake up the tax and spend crowd in Washington D.C.

“Governor Palin is providing tremendous leadership as the Tea Party movement and constitutional conservatives strive to take our country back,” Rand said.

“Sarah Palin is a giant in American politics. I am proud to receive her support.”

“I’m trying to go to Washington to fight to lower taxes and spending, and for term limits and balanced budgets. I will go to protect the lives of our unborn children,” Rand said.

“I will strive to capitalize on the support of Governor Palin and so many others to go to Washington and fight for liberty and limited government and put an end to the current climate of insider politics, runaway deficits and out-of-control growth of government.”

Sarah Palin’s endorsement is another major success in a long list of achievements for the Paul campaign. Dr. Paul was recently identified as one of the five most important candidates to support by Dick Armey, Freedom Works and the National Tea Party Movement. Dr. Paul has also received endorsements from Concerned Women for America, Gun Owners of America, Steve Forbes and RedState.com,

Recent independent polls show Rand holding a double digit lead in the Republican primary and large leads over either Democratic opponent. Rand Paul has raised over $1.8 million dollars, including over $650,000 in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Editor's Note - Hat tip to alert LR reader Rae.

Remainders – The Things We Didn’t Post: Shout It Out Edition [Remainders]

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In today's Remainders: shouting! Fox News has been clamoring about Verizon and the iPad for a while, and today they kept on clamoring; an indie video game you control by screaming; a robot that listens for your commands; and more.

Fox Tales
Before the iPad's launch, Fox News Channel's Clayton Morris said that there would be two versions of Apple's tablet: one for AT&T and one for Verizon. According to Business Insider, Morris is still sayin' it. The information allegedly comes from a source in Verizon, and BI pretty much says that's good enough for them. Well you know what? It's not good enough for us. Fox News doesn't have the best track record with Apple rumors lately, so we remain skeptical on this one. [Business Insider]

Scream
If your video game habit really gets on the nerves of the people who live with you, show them this video and say, "see, things could be much, much worse." The game, presented recently at Sydney's Game Jam conference, makes yelling one of the primary controls. The louder the yell, the better you fare. Sure, your roommates might not appreciate your attempts to get to the blood-curdling bonus rounds, but if your gaming is provoking a lot of frustrated screaming already, this game might be one to keep an eye on. [CruchGearoarrrrr]

Hanging Out
Sure, this messy LED circuit chandelier gives your home decor a touch of the nerdiness that defines you. Then again, this messy LED circuit chandelier gives home decor a touch of the nerdiness that defines you. [Design Boom]

Atom and Eve
Fujisoft's Palro robot packs an Intel Atom brain, giving the little guy 1.6 GHz of processing power, Wi-Fi capabilities and a 3 megapixel on-board camera. All that hardware makes it a good worker, but it's an even better listener. Why? Because it also packs five microphones for powerful voice recognition ability. A video clip after the jump shows the Palro reacting to a woman's commands, though it's unclear exactly what she's commanding and thus unclear exactly how well it's taking those commands. The only downside to this pint-sized conversational companion is the price tag. To make Palro your robo pal,expect to dish out over $3000 when it's available in March. I think I'll just play some solitaire. [SlashGear]