Archive for August 29th, 2008

public policy
A whiff of desperation…

So, John McCain has chosed Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate in the 2008 election.

Let’s break this down.

First, this is a fairly transparent attempt to woo staunch Hillary supporters who just really, really want to vote for a female candidate. I’ve got to think this is a pretty small faction.

So, to gain a few thousand voters, what has McCain sacrificed? Well, Palin is a first-term Governor whose only prior political experience was mayor of a town of 9,800 people. She is 44.

John McCain repeatedly attacks Barack Obama’s experience, suggesting the 47-year-old does not have the background required to lead. However, Obama has eleven years of experience as a State and US Senator, while Palin has only ten years experience as a mayor of a tiny town and less than two years experience as governor of the least-populous state in America. I guess experience isn’t that important after all.

Nothing says “winning strategy” like undercutting one of your primary campaign tactics to gain a few disaffected Democrats. I respond thus:

August 29th, 2008 by graeme | | 1 comment »

green bin
Lost villages found in Amazon

Seems like they’re finding all kinds of “lost” things in the rainforest these days.

Think the ancient Amazon was untouched by human hands? Wrong. Turns out sections of the forest were downright urban. Scientists at the University of Florida have discovered a large network of towns that once supported upwards of 50,000 people in an area slightly smaller than New Jersey. They boasted roads, defense works, and advanced agriculture.

All kinds of fancypants tech went into finding the lost towns, including satellite imaging:

The red lines indicate old roads, while the black ones are ditches used for defensive purposes.

Downtown Amazon flourised from about 1,500 to 400 years ago, until these societies were wiped out by invading Europeans. The jungle gradually reclaimed the settlements, and they faded from memory. This is actually kind of good news, because it means the Amazon has recovered from large-scale deforestation before, and can do so again. We just need to stop cutting the darn thing down.

August 29th, 2008 by graeme | | no comments »

green bin
Mythbusters paint with cannons

Oh, to be a Mythbuster. Their apparently unlimited budget allows them to do, well, pretty much anything they want.

Like build a giant, 1100-barrell paintball gun with one mile of high-pressure tubing. And then paint the Mona Lisa. Instantly.

I think they were trying to explain something about the difference between single- and multi-core computing. But who cares? GIANT PAINTBALL GUN. Via Giz.

August 29th, 2008 by graeme | | no comments »

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