Who might have guessed that climate change is what forced humans to become human. http://phys.org/news/2012-12-fluctuating-environment-driven-human-evolution.html And there's no denying that humankind has prospered in the 20K years of (more or less) continuous warming since the last glacial maximum.

Back in the late 60's/early 70's I drove Renault 8 and 10 cars, which easily achieved 40+ MPG on the highway. That was with 1000cc and 1100cc engines, BTW. Back when you could get "gallons per dollar", not dollars per gallon.... Since then mileage has decreased due to: 1) Emission controls on the engines 2) Changes in gasoline formulation, particularly "winter blends" 3) Increased weight of vehicles due to crash safety requirements

More important than MILC or DLSR or XXXX is a separate viewfinder. Cameras with just an LCD/LED/OLED panel on the back really don't cut it. Especially outside during the daytime. I think a viewfinder (through lens or separate) is much more convenient.

Grey whales became extinct in the Atlantic sometime in the 1600's - 1700's,....... You'd think that evidence of population and range recovery would be good news to environmentalists...

The real issue with the NPOESS polar orbiting meteorological satellite program was that it was 6 years behind schedule and $3B over budget. That's not a success by any measure. A textbook case of a government program gone bad, with the requisite calls for more good money to be thrown into the abyss after the bad....

That's the first think I thought...... big question is, did they *patent* it....

NASA SP-426, "Sun, Weather, and Climate, 1978m John R. Herman and Richard A. Goldberg, republished 1985 by Dover Publications, Inc. Section 3.2 talks about correlations with the 22 year Hale Solar Cycle (the 11 year cycles have alternate polarity). Rainfall and drought are the first two mentioned..... not exactly the solar storm, but still the sun

No way, no how. The Feds are more like Dilbert's "Mordac", preventers of information technology. In addition to no-bid fraud, waste, and abuse on the read-only, non-transactional "transparency" web site, add in the reaping of email addresses at whitehouse.gov (a practice carried over from the Obama campaign web sites, by the way, with no effective way to get off the list through the web site).

Erlang is also being used for the virtual radio kernel, which is used for software defined radios. Good article on the subject linked off the www.flex-radio.com FAQ's on PowerSDR V2.

National Climatic Data Center, Asheville NC The only problem is that the charge $$$$ for the data that has already been collected at taxpayer expense.

If you're a U.S. citizen, try try the Navy or Air Force as a commissioned officer. Lots of technical jobs, and the only coding they'll let you do is on your own time. If you're really gung-ho, add the Army and Marine Corps to your list. They're hiring.... And there is life (and work) after the service. Been there, done that....