From the monthly archives:

December 2010

It also needed extreme speed to escape intercepting fighters, the primary threat to long-range bombers at the time. Since no one thought ordinary jet engines could produce enough power efficiently enough to meet all those design requirements, early research focused on installing a nuclear reactor in a plane.

via Meet the XB-70 Valkyrie, Almost the World’s First Nuclear Aircraft | Danger Room | Wired.com.

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Winter-proof sneakers these are not

by Rod Edwards on December 26, 2010

The wide white band and sheepskin or whatever that is ensures that these will look perpetually filthy. Is intelligent design really that hard?

Wanted: Sneakers for Winter | Fast Company.

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Big Eclipse Tonight: 12:30 AM – 2:30 AM in Winnipeg

December 20, 2010

The Earth’s shadow will begin to blot out the moon at 1:32 a.m. EST (10:32 p.m. PST). During totality, when the Earth is directly between the moon and the sun, the moon will turn a rusty orange-red for 72 minutes from 2:41 a.m. to 3:53 a.m. EST (11:41 p.m. to 12:53 a.m. PST). via Lunar [...]

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Shoreline carnage from this past October’s megastorm [pics]

December 20, 2010

DSC_0398, originally uploaded by Rod Edwards. This past October, a ludicrous storm (caused by a record-setting low pressure cell to the south of Lake Winnipeg) did a stupendous amount of damage to the south basin of Lake Winnipeg. Here’s some shots from our area; click the picture (or follow this link) to jump to the [...]

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Qur’an etched in Saddam Hussein’s blood poses dilemma for Iraq leaders

December 20, 2010

It was etched in the blood of a dictator in a ghoulish bid for piety. Over the course of two painstaking years in the late 1990s, Saddam Hussein had sat regularly with a nurse and an Islamic calligrapher; the former drawing 27 litres of his blood and the latter using it as a macabre ink [...]

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Photoblog: Melaka – Chinese Light

December 19, 2010

Melaka – Chinese Light, originally uploaded by Rod Edwards. We happened to visit the historic port town of Melaka, Malaysia in the middle of Chinese New Year. With a large ethnic Chinese population, that makes for quite an event. The city is hundreds of years old, and over its history has served as the pirate [...]

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Photoblog: Emerald Hill, Singapore

December 18, 2010

Singapore – Emerald Hill Details, originally uploaded by Rod Edwards. Back to the Emerald Hill neighborhood of Singapore – this time for some architectural detail. This area – nestled in the ubran concrete heart of Singapore’s Orchard Ave. shopping & office valhalla – captures in a few blocks what Singapore used to be like. Ethnic [...]

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Repatriating manufacturing from China?

December 17, 2010

Fast Company ran an article the A.M. on how Apple widens the US trade deficit with China, and how by repatriating manufacturing to the United States, Apple could still achieve good gross margins and help out the ailing US economy: The authors offer a scenario in which Apple suddenly decides not to pursue profit maximization, dumps the oft-criticized [...]

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Iowa ousts judges who gave gays same rights

December 16, 2010

“Voters in Iowa chose to remove three high court justices who helped make Iowa the first Midwestern state to permit same-sex marriage.” [CNN] Another example of the Tea Party/Republican/??? conflicted agenda at work. Yes to small government! But also, yes to government meddling in bedrooms! I think when a Tea Partier says “freedom” they mean [...]

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Canada’s tech “Greats” are struggling; RIM lost at sea

December 16, 2010

“…it wasn’t until I saw Lazaridis speak a day later that I saw the writing on the wall for me and the company: RIM doesn’t have a competitive smartphone now, nor will it have one any time in the near future.” via Editorial: RIM seems to be as lost as my BlackBerry — Engadget. That’s [...]

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