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Comment Re:I agree! (Score 1) 244

The Memphis-Huntsville section would not be that hard. Just take US-72 and add control access points. It is already done within the city of Huntsville (aka I-565). There are some difficult points (I'm looking at you Decatur). But as major road construction projects go, Memphis-Huntsville is a no-brainer.

Huntsville-Atlanta is a whole different story.

Comment I use iGoogle all the time (Score 1) 329

iGoogle is my homepage. It is a very convenient way to display everything I want to see as soon as I open my browser. It has the news, the weather, my email, my calendar, some of my favorite rss feeds and much more. It is the perfect jumping point into the web.

I signed the change petition. I doubt it will change Google's mind, but this is the internet and I need to rant.
http://www.change.org/petitions/google-don-t-kill-igoogle

Comment Re:Budget or 'plan'? (Score 1) 149

This Bill includes one more shuttle launch. STS 135. Prior to this bill being passed, the last launch was going to occur in March. Now we will have one more in June (assuming no delays). Remember this is an authorization bill not a funding bill. NASA is funded under the Continuing Resolution, which had money in place for NASA, but no authorization. They already had the money in place, but now they have something to do with it.

On a side note, the main Rep against the authorization was Gabrielle Giffords, wife of STS-134 shuttle commander Mark Kelly.

Comment Ted Postol is not exactly credible (Score 2, Interesting) 312

Closing Velocity has an excellent take on Postol's analysis. Turns out the work that Postol did was not exactly rigorous. From Closing Velocity "In other words, Postol is a deceiving hack with a permanent axe to grind. Indeed, when not purposefully misrepresenting test objectives, Postol simply ignores the tests that do not support his wild-ass claims"

MDA also gives Postol the smack-down.

Comment Great Math Books (Score 1) 630

There have been many good suggestions here, so forgive me if I am repeating a few.
Here are some books that I would highly recommend in no particular order.

FlatLand: Creates a real understanding of dimensions. Great book for challenging your thinking. Also be sure to pick out the movie. This could truly be 2001 for math geeks.

A Mathematician reads a newspaper: Goes through a newspaper, and explains the math behind it. All topics covered, politics, business, lifestyle, and much more.

Innumeracy: What happens if you don't know math? Total societal collapse. Okay maybe that's a little extreme, but this subject is important, and everybody should understand it.

Why do buses come in threes": A personal favorite. Shows how math plays into everyday life. Touches every subject. This book is interesting, informative, and amusing. I highly recommend it.

How long is a piece of string: Sequel to the previous book. Not quite as good, but still better than most.

Conned Again, Watson: Where else can you have Sherlock Holmes explaining probability and statistics to a poor unlearned Dr. Watson.

A History of PI: This is more of a history book than a math book. But it is a history of math, or specifically pi.

The Joy of pi: Like the previous book, but less serious.

Euclid's Window: Now it is really time to bend the old mind. History, Adventure, and non-Euclidean Geometry. Great stuff.

Hyperspace: You thought 4 dimensions were bad? How about 10.

A Mathematician's Apology: Since I started with a classic. I will also end with a classic. G. H. Hardy's book is a must-read for any serious math aspirant.

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