Kepler’s 3rd Law is Broken
I’ve written a short Windows program that uses Kepler’s 3rd Law to calculate the mass of an object based on it’s orbital time in days and it’s distance from its parent, in kilometers. However, I can get the answer in the ballpark but not any closer than that. The answer is correct in magnitude but not accuracy. If you have any ideas why this might be, drop me a line. Here’s the program (zipped Windows exe). Click below to see how I do the actual calculation.
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New Categories and The Age of the Buffalo
I just like putting up new pictures on the topics page. 4 new categories, Coin Collecting, Linux, Military, and Chess. If I sound like I have a boring life, well, too bad. I like my hobbies. So there! At least they’re clean. In other site news, I got my first stash of Buffalo Nickels today, found a direct link between AOL and demonic numbers, and realized why my car rode so roughly. Click for
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Gun Shows and the People Who Mock Them
I went to the gun show today and was thoroughly entertained. Aside from the typical collection of guns, ammo, reloading supplies, and the like, there were numerous others there, from coin dealers to doll and American Indian crafts dealers. But by far the most amusing thing was the attendees.
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Buy A Kryptonite Lock
But a Kryptonite lock for your bike. They can’t be broken through easily. I know, I had to do that today.
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Strange, I don’t feel like a Software Engineer
So far this week I have spent an entire day at work fixing people’s computer problems. Eight entire hours of fixing things that are supposed to be working but for some reason have stopped doing so. My business card says “Software Engineer”, but my timesheet says “Information Technology & Internal Support”. From paper jams to software configurations, if someone has need of computer support, I’m the go-to man. I should get a badge or something. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind being a servant, but my calling, the thing I love to do, is write, test, and fix code, and I’ve been doing very little of that lately. But thank God for patience with things like jammed printers.
Phone Groans
I have a Kyocera 6035 that just absolutely rocks, except for one thing: it has a flip down panel, which, as any mechanical engineer will tell you, is prone to break (because it moves). Yesterday, it started spondaneously disconnecting. It is supposed to be in phone mode when the panel is closed, but I could jiggle it and move it into Palm mode. Not good.
When will hardware engineers realize that a class or two in user interface and also in mechanical design could be a good idea?
One Year Later – An Archive
One year has come and gone, and here we are, remembering people who most of us never met. Their lives and ours were forever changed, and as Americans do for almost every life-changing event, we remember with memorial ceremonies and prayer services. I’ve decided to zip and archive the websites of some prominent companies anniversary pages. They ranged from simple to stark contrast, with a few discussions. The archives are zip files. Click more to see the entire list.
By the way, did you vote yesterday?
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‘A’ is for Acceptable
Sue Grafton started writing the Kinsey Millhone mysteries 20 years ago. I started reading them one week ago. “‘A’ is for Alibi” is a murder mystery, pursued by a tempestuous private investigator who reminds me of my sister. It’s one of those short mystery paperbacks that’s an enjoyable read, simply because it’s well written.
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Hannibal, B.A., Face, and Murdock have company
Richard Armitage is at it again. Demonstrating a profound knowledge of 1980′s pop TV culture, he recently said “Hezbollah made the A-team of terrorists, maybe al Qaeda is actually the B-team,” at a luncheon speech. He also said, quote, “We’re going to go after them just like a high school wrestler goes after opponents, we’re going to take them down one at a time”.
So let me get this straight: Hezbollah is a bunch of hired mercenaries, wanted by the government for a crime they didn’t commit, and we’re sending Colonel Decker after them. Someone please inform Mr. Armitage that he might not want to compare 80s TV heroes (who were innocent) to real-life terrorists (who are guilty).