The Willimantic Experience from Jake Williams on Vimeo.
’Romantic’ Willimantic, my hometown, from the viewpoint of students at Eastern Connecticut State University in the Prospect Hill neighborhood where I grew up. Not quite the ‘Heroin Town’ CBS’s 60 Minutes portray it as 7 years ago. Willimantic is also the market town for the University of Connecticut (UCONN), 7 miles north in rural Storrs.
1. SYRACUSE, NEW YORK “Cold,” “clammy,” “snowy” are three great ways to describe Syracuse weather—from October through April. Winter starts very early and lasts late, with plenty of snow and extremely cold temperatures. Winter daytime temperatures average in the lower 30s, with nighttime lows in the teens, but temperatures as low as minus 25°F have been recorded. Snow also makes winter uncomfortable in Syracuse, averaging almost 120 inches per season. During the winter of 2009–2010, Syracuse was again the winner of the prestigious “Golden Snowball Award,” celebrating the city with most snowfall for the winter in upstate New York, beating out such snowy cities as Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, and Binghamton. Syracuse also made our Farmers’ Almanac “10 Worst” list in 2002. Another reason why this city makes the worst winter weather list — December, January, and February are typically gloomy, with Syracuse receiving only onethird of the sunshine possible, because of considerable cloud cover.
Remind me again how lucky I am to live here!
I’m bemused that the controversy about plans to open an Islamic community center in lower Manhattan is occuring in the same year that Miss USA is a Muslim, Rimi Fakih.
Shortly after I biked to work one day this summer, the Navigate New Media blog interviewed me about the the Monetizing Online Business conference that I co-chaired on June 25, 2010, in New York City. I must begin keeping a spare shirt in my office. And if only they could build a shower in my office, too!
Masato Akamatsu, outfielder for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, runs up the wall and denies Yokohoma’s Shuichi Murata a home run during a game on August 3, 2010.
American, Russian, French, British, Swedish, and Chinese anti-ship missiles that fly at supersonic speeds and are now programmed to maneuver evasively as they attack. For several decades, the defense modern navies have used against those threats are computer-automated, radar-guide modern Gatling guns that fire hundreds of spent-uranium bullets at attacking aircraft or missiles. However, even those guns can overwhelmed if too many aircraft or missiles attack a ship.
The U.S. Navy is experimenting with laser guns defenses. Here’s a video, shown at the Farnborough (UK) Airshow this summer, which shows a 32-kilowatt infrared laser illuminating and setting fire to the wingtip of a remotely-controlled drone aircraft. The laser was built by Raytheon Missile Systems of Tuscon, Arizona. “Three similar drones were also successfully engaged at militarily significant distances by the solid-state laser” in May and June, said Mike Booen, the firm’s vice president. “It’s a world first over open sea.”
Ray gun warefare is a reality.
I was honored on Wednesday, July 14, 2010, to give the Singapore Press Holdings Foundation’s third annual Media Lecture, before an audience of 400 people in the Drama Centre of the National Library of Singapore. Here is Razor TV’s news coverage of the speech.
Bookmakers’ odd are out for the 2010 World Cup. Most favor Spain. In fact, bookmakers StanJames.com will refund new client’s betting registration fee if Spain wins. The firm currently gives these odds on the favorite teams:
I’m pleased that my aerial photo above will be in the Museum of Modern Art’s ‘Rising Currents: Projects for New York’s Waterfront‘ exhibit, March 24-October 11th, 2010.
I’ve been amazed by the past 20 years of progress in racing bicycle technology due to advance materials. The first reasonably affordable titanium-frame racing bicycles starting appearing in 1990 and shortly after 2000 the first reasonably affordable carbon-fiber-framed appeared. We now have the first new advancement: carbon fiber bicycle frames that aren’t entirely solid.
Above is a photo of the $10,000 (US) Delta 7 road bike. The junctions in its frame are made of regular carbon fiber but the main tubes of the frame consist of an open latticework of carbon fiber/Kevlar strings woven into a network of isosceles triangles. That latticework is up to 12 times stronger than steel but weighs ten times less.
From Charlie Brooker of BBC4 in London.
Emma hadn’t before been camping, and had some apprehension about sleeping in a tent. Pity us having to sleep in this one. July 20-21, 2009. Shamwari Game Reserve, near Sidbury, Eastern Cape, Republic of South Africa.