I was with my previous ISP (Speakeasy) for about a decade. They were a wonderful find when my DSL provider went under without warning, forcing me to shop for an alternative from the "comfort" of a coffee place. But as the independent DSL business consolidated (read "collapsed"), they eventually got bought out, customer service predictably declined, and (worst of all) I was still paying the same amount for the same speed I'd signed up for circa 2000 .... I finally jumped ship to (sigh) Comcast.

It's always fun to look up what else people have been in. One that caught my eye was Ms Whitney as an uncredited band member in the still brilliantly goofy Some Like It Hot.

...laura.

I encourage scientists* to follow up with studies of politically-driven politics. Without involving any politicians, of course.

*Social scientists, I suppose, but that's better than nothing ;)

But if an experienced landscaper is willing to do it for $20 – because he's been "laid off" from his landscaping job (unofficially for not being in his 20s anymore), but he would still like to continue eating – why shouldn't you hire him? Hiring decisions should be based on the actual job requirement (willingness to work for the pay), not assumptions about the applicants based on someone functionally irrelevant (age).

The "review" of NASA's programs focused on studying Earth seems more like an attempt by climate-science deniers to stifle research that doesn't confirm what they want to hear, than anything to do with a supposed "turf battle with NOAA".

"Have you been the victim of recruiting spam?"

I have an account on LinkedIn, so ... yes.

Which is funny/sad, because there is nothing in my linked-in profile that suggests that I'm particularly qualified for any in-demand jobs. So the spam I get is for garbage jobs, and positions for which I am obviously neither qualified nor interested.

In Canada we have an intermediate step between untowered uncontrolled airports and controlled airports with towers, Mandatory Frequency airports. They have a ground station with whom you must communicate for arrival and departure. They dispense information and coordinate activities, but do not give clearances. As pilot you make those decisions.

An example MF airport I've flown to is Kamloops, BC (CYKA). On initial contact the ground station told me the wind, altimeter setting and active runway, but also advised me of skydiving activity north of the airport. Since this might conflict on the usual left-hand circuit pattern, they suggested I fly a right hand circuit on approach. I did, and landed. This wasn't binding on me - the decision and responsibility were mine - but it was a good idea.

...laura

Cue the pseudoscience nutcases who'll cite this as "proof" that fluoridated water is toxic to our chakras or something. Oh, wait, except that it's coming from the federal government, so it must be part of a conspiracy with Big Pharma to... um... increase our dependence on commercial toothpaste?

I would hardly classify ethernet as "necessary"; wifi serves the same purpose in most situations, and more conveniently. I honestly can't remember the last time I actually used the RJ45 port on a laptop (other than loading a software image as part of my tech support job).

And how often would you want to connect an external drive at the same time you need to connect the laptop for charging? I'll grant that only having a single multipurpose connection point (like the new 12" MacBook) could be a bit of a bother in situations like that, but I can't see it being an obstacle.

If they used reasonable numbers of significant figures I wouldn't mind so much. Since the altitude is specified to three significant figures (FL350), how about 10.7 km? The Air New Zealand system only did metric, BTW.

A later flight (Air Canada) had the bilingual in-flight thingy giving U.S.-bastardized units in English, and metric units (with, as usual, too many significant figures) in French.

...laura

I just got back from a vacation in Australia, and was annoyed that the in-flight display thingy insisted on displaying everything in "correct" units.

Showing the plane's altitude as 10,668 meters is all well and good, but is missing the point. Even a pilot from New Zealand (I was flying Air New Zealand) would have given the altitude as 35,000 feet. Flight level 350, strictly speaking, but few non-aviators would know what that meant.

Yes, I know they use metric altitudes and flight levels in Russia and China...

...laura

When the Acer guy says "PC" I'm pretty sure he's talking about the category of "computers that come with Windows installed". That's how consumers use the term.

I measure my altitude in reference to Lake Michigan-Huron, you insensitive clods!

Meanwhile, another person has dropped two different weights from the Tower of Pisa, and observed that they landed at the same time.

And this just in: high-resolution photos taken from the International Space Station appear to confirm that the Earth is approximately spherical in shape. Experiments intended to determine whether objects in motion tend to stay in motion, are underway.