Summer fun food and drink - vacation from sunspots · Saturday August 2, 2008 by colin newell
I am starting a 3 week vacation today and we are pretty much playing it by ear. We are, quite literally, in the dark about what we are doing… where we are going exactly.
I would tell you if I knew. But I don’t. So I cannot.
What did cross my mind today (am I am talking quite extemporaneously now…) was that people who do things at the last minute are the bane of security hawks very existence. What do I mean by that you ask?
Well. Did you know that there are cruises line in the U.S. that (choose to) report every single guest they are going to have on their cruise to the F.B.I. and/or homeland security. Not every cruise line does this. It means that before you hit the lido deck on Day one of your Caribbean cruise, the men in black are aware of your location – right down to the GPS location of the ship.
Not me though. And it got me thinking again: What if I dropped into WestJet.ca or AirCanada.ca and picked up a flight… for say… tomorrow morning? I mean, there have to be empty seats on planes all over the place. Or what if I decide to fly to London, England… like… tomorrow? Would that not upset some security suit somewhere. I mean, that whole not knowing where I am at any given moment can quite literally drive someone out there… mad. Mad I tell you… Mad.
Next item. Sun spots. No, not age spots. Sun spots.
I have been a radio guy since 1971… when I was young. Very young. I will keep it simple and say Ham radio – which for the purposes of this entry is the suitable term. Most people know what Ham radio is… so I can skip the long definition.
Anyway. I have been observing all the neat science things that are needed to make this hobby work… for 38 years. And the primary thing that makes Ham radio work… and the ability to talk to and listen to radio signals from around the globe (without the internet folks!) are sunspots. Sunspots. Not age spots. Sun spots.
Sun spots come and go. They generate some of the forms of solar radiation that energize the Earth’s ionosphere – that allow radio signals to bounce around – like at night time when you listen to San Francisco from your cabin in Anchorage Alaska. Most people have noticed that AM radio signals carry a lot further at night then it does during the day. Conversely, FM radio rarely skips. It does more often than people realize… but that is another medium.
Photo above – a recent picture of the Sun which should be festooned with at least one big Sun spot. Instead, nothing.
Long story short: Sun spots go through cycles of intensity that last 11 years. And these Cycles have been going on without interruption for hundreds and hundreds of years… thousands of years… since the beginning.
Uhm. With some exceptions. Like the 17th and 18th century. When there were, how can I put this… mini ice-ages. Doldrums. Periods when there were no Sun spots for several decades at a time. Triggering brief global Ice-ages. Albeit Small ones. It effected the whole planet. Normally moderate climates like the one they have in London, England — In the 1700’s, the Thames River would freeze up solid 3 weeks of the year… year after year… for about 20 years.
Like I said: I have been observing solar cycles for 38 years. And something is amiss. But there is no immediate cause for alarm… like not in the next week or so anyway.
To a geophysicist or a radio science guy like me, being told that a Solar cycle is not starting is kind of like being 21 again and having your girlfriend tell you she’s late.
If you get my drift. It is a scenario that has long term consequences. That are almost immediate – once it’s confirmed.
We have just concluded Solar Cycle 23 and Solar Cycle 24 was supposed to start… a year ago.
So listen up. The term Solar Cycle 24 could very well become a household phrase over the next 6 months. In some ways, it could be coming at a good time… and at a very bad time.
Do yourself: Google Solar Cycle 24 right now. And strap yourself in for an interesting ride. More scholarly reading here
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Summer fun food and drink - Bottomless in Australia · Sunday July 27, 2008 by colin newell
As a Canadian, I have fun with the Australians. I mean, we are a lot alike. Canadians and Aussies love coffee. But currently, the Aussies have one up on us here in North America…
Click on photo at left for the zippy view
Their culture is espresso-centric.
That means that everything is based on espresso coffee. Everything is built upon it.
In Canada, we are less focused… and anything goes. That means coffee shops that pride themselves on their espresso, their drip coffee, their mud, their latte art, their French press and their Clover… and so on. And so on. And so on.
Oh yea. Forgot one. Our Tim Horton’s.
In Australia, the coffee experience springs from a point source and that point source is espresso coffee. And from an esoteric point of view, this allows a people (the Aussies) and a culture (being Australian) to be the absolute best that anyone can be at something (espresso culture).
Representing this wave is Crema Magazine in Australia – they have been around for a few years documenting the ascent of coffee greatness… I mean, espresso greatness. I have been fortunate enough to have a few pictures published in Crema magazine – which is cool… And I would love to do more… If they would let me. So. Hats off to the great people at Crema Magazine!
Oh yea – Photo above is of the single boiler Innova espresso – modified and sold by Geir Oglend of the Drumroaster Cafe on Vancouver Island – to be reviewed on CoffeeCrew.Com real soon.
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Air travel rant #8 Too dangerous to fly - too innocent to arrest · Wednesday June 25, 2008 by colin newell
People speak about Canada’s no fly list…
“hastily and ill considered national security initiatives which are essentially aimed at managing perceptions more than they are in really addressing legitimate and manageable security concerns are not harmless. In fact, they cause disproportionate harm in return for very minor gains in terms of intelligence and law enforcement. “
Air travel rant #7 Satan takes charge of all the World's problems · Monday June 23, 2008 by colin newell
The United States said Tuesday that it will require visitors who are allowed to enter the country without visas to register biographical details online at least three days before they travel.
The United States said this? not any person in particular? No wait…
Photo right – Homeland Security Fuhrer & Uber Alles dude Michael Chertoff in a moment of celebration makes Wank wank wa-a-a-a-nk noises. Seriously, I have no idea what I mean by that…
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who announced the changes, said they will help the United States boost the security of its visa-free travel program by allowing the government to screen visitors before they travel. Currently, visitors fill out paper forms en route and are screened by U.S. customs agents upon arrival.
Right. This should nab terrorists. Just read the bio info as they enter the country:
Name: Michael Chertoff | Place of Birth: Transylvania | Year of Birth:1832
Reason for visiting the U.S. of A. – Blood…. blood… blood
Occupation: blood sucker, night rider, bat, patriot, terrorist, government employee
Ok Mister Michael. I got those first 4 things and that last thing…
That 5th thing… the terrorist…
that entry gives us a bit of pause. Could you expand on that a bit?
Yea. This is gonna work. Brilliant Michael. Brilliant.
Chertoff (grammar school photo at left) said the new system will allow the United States to determine ahead of time if travelers pose a security risk. He called the system a “21st Century model for facilitating travel to the United States.”
“It’s very important to us to remain a welcoming country,” he said, but added: “potential terrorists do not come easily labeled or identified.”
A welcoming country? Gimme a break. The U.S.A. has been actively discouraging visitors since shortly after 9/11 and continues to make it more and more uncomfortable – even for residents of the United States of America – a people who are assumed to be guilty of being terrorists and have to be “validated” before they can enter and exit their own country… and are even being spot-checked within their own country.
Wank! Wank! Wa-a-a-a-nk!
