I was wondering why none of my Amazon content was working for a while yesterday. Amazon’s still not talking, but at least I’m not the only one who noticed. Update: I got a nice note back from Bert G. at Amazon: There was a technical issue with our web site […]
Monthly Archives: June 2010
64 posts
This post reviews and highlights my ten most favorite posts or threads from the past month. June saw several posts revolving around the topic of ultra-wideband (UWB) RF technology. The foreclosure and reorganization of Time Domain Corporation, a pioneer in the ultra-wideband (UWB) industry, prompted a much-commented-upon guest post by […]
TSA humiliated an amputee mother, and traumatized her four-year-old son, according to her story, here [LINK BROKEN]. Hat tip: Radley Balko Update: Adding insult to injury, the mother in question was so traumatized by trolls that she deleted the original post (cached).
A prolific inventor, Lee de Forest not only invented some of the first direction finding (DF) antenna systems, but also deserves the credit for having invented the first RF ranging system. Realizing that signal strength declines with distance, de Forest proposed inserting a variable resistor into the RF circuit to […]
Here’s an interesting analysis of the underlying problems that led to last month’s stock market “flash crash.” Amazing what subtle data latency issues can do in complex information systems. Hat Tip: Paul Blair, Jay Garing.
In a post on Saturday (In Defense of “For-Profit” Education), I described my experience as an instructor at one of the leaders in for-profit education, ITT Technical Institute. I called it an “educational sweatshop,” a characterization which probably says more about the lackadaisical teaching demands of typical institutions of higher […]
Today, 27 June, 1944, Cherbourg surrendered. The first major objective in the Allied campaign in Northwest Europe is now complete. The German defenders inflicted great damage on the port facilities. Time will tell the extent to which the Allies will be able to restore the port of Cherbourg and begin […]
[iframe: src=”http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=uwbantennacom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B00006RCLG” frameborder=”0″ width=”120px” height=”240px” scrolling=”no”] His Girl Friday (1940) Comedy 92 min. Dir: Howard Hanks Stars: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Belamy Blurb: A devious editor (Grant) seeks to recapture his ex-wife and star reporter (Russell), and to prevent her from leaving with her new milquetoast fiance (Belamy). Comments: […]
Early this morning 26 June, 1944, the 313th advanced into Cherbourg, braving snipers and clearing their sector in house-to-house fighting. By 0800, the 313th had reached the beach in their zone. Throughout the day, the 313th eliminated scattered pockets of resistance and captured hundreds of prisoners. Paul Farnum and the […]
Friday, the House held hearings on the dangers and evils of “for-profit” education. In a recent Mother Jones piece, subprime mortgage critic Steve Eisman is quoted as follows: “Until recently, I thought that there would never again be an opportunity to be involved with an industry as socially destructive and […]
This morning, 25 June, 1944 the 313th spent the morning on patrol. At 1400, the Regiment moved in a column of Battalions (Second – First – Third) from the high ground down to the outskirts of Cherbourg. By nightfall, the 313th occupied the position in the map below, in orange. […]
A few interesting links from recent days… Vin Suprynowicz explains his modest proposal to eliminate the National Debt and keep the government from excessive (well, actually “any”) borrowing in the future: default. Humorist P.J. O’Rourke offers another modest proposal – this one for improving American education. Last week, I presented […]
Orders for the 79th Division were to capture the strong point at la Mare a Canards. This task was left to the 314th. The Paul Farnum and the 313th Regiment veered east to attack strong points west of la Glacerie, encountering continuing opposition, and proceeded to Hameau Gringor, taking about […]
John Stone Stone (1869-1943) patented the first effective direction finding system in 1902. [[1], [2]] Stone’s scheme involved a two element antenna with a first element (V) arranged no more than a half wavelength away from a second element (V’). The Figure below shows Stone’s invention. The two elements are […]
By late night of 22nd, the 313th along with two battalions of the 314th held a line along the east-west road which crosses the Cherbourg highway at Crossroads 177 (purple line). That morning, the 313th discovered that they had been cut off by German forces to their rear, and their […]
On April Fools’ Day this year, the fine folks at ThinkGeek introduced a new product: Canned Unicorn Meat. Despite the fact it looks suspiciously like Spam with sparkles, they dared advertise it as “The New White Meat.” That got the National Pork Board’s attention. The National Pork Board, as you […]
The surrender ultimatum expired without word from the German commander of Cherbourg. Allied troops withdrew 1000 yards from the front and today, 22 June 1944, at 12:40, the Air Forces began an 8 minute attack on the German first-line positions. The 313th was to continue along the Valognes-Cherbourg highway jumping […]
Communications may have been the first commercial application of wireless technology, but Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) were close behind. In the first few years of radio, a variety of aggressive inventors recognized the problem of RTLS and leaped to offer solutions. Some of their ideas illustrated the inventors’ misunderstanding of […]
Yesterday, 20 June, 1944 at Delasse, the 313th Regiment made contact with the German fixed defenses around Cherbourg. Throughout last night and today (21 June, 1944), patrols were sent out to feel out the enemy’s strength and to attempt to find weak spots in the line. The bulk of the […]
I’ve long wondered if the modial interaction of magneto-reluctance and capacitive directance might have practical application for energy conversion on long duration space missions. Now, an inventor claims to have actually reduced this to practice in in a conventional automotive transmission application! The inventor calls it a “Turbo Encabulator.” I […]
The 315th Regiment struggled yesterday 19 June, 1944 due to scattered resistance around the town of Valogne, so General Wyche decided to leave the 315th where it was, containing the east flank. He ordered the 314th Regiment, which had been the division’s reserve, to join the Paul Farnum’s 313th Regiment […]
Wes Michaels turned 58 this past Thursday, but didn’t celebrate his birthday. He and his family were going to commemorate Wes’s birthday in conjunction with Fathers’ Day, today. Now that’s not going to happen either. On Thursday a tornado ripped through the gas station Wes owned in Mentor, MN. He […]
…and 23 other key phrases that should make you think twice before hitting the send button. See the NPR article via SpamNotes. Hat Tip: Overlawyered.