The Volt in Paris

Chevy takes the wraps off of their entry into the electric car wars, the Volt.



Cnet has the photos from Paris.

I have to say, it's a nice looking car on the outside, and definitely a step up from the Prius or its look-alike the new Honda Insight.  With those two cars form followed function, from the tall rear-end to the disc like wheels.  The Volt has a more traditional appearance for a sedan with an actual rear deck and a high waistline.

On the inside, though, they appear to have gone with modern kitsch.  Everything is glass screens and iPod white.  I don't think that the look is going to age well.

The Volt is interesting in that if you drive less than 40 miles after a full charge then the engine should not turn on.  This will get a lot of people back and forth from the office, and if your work allows you to charge your car that's even better.  However, I wonder if the engineers have thought about fuel stability.  If you are doing a lot of short trips, commuter style, then that tank of gas might be sitting in your tank for quite a while.  And gas will break down over time, which is why it is recommended to drain your lawn mower or add a fuel stabilizer when it is not in use over winter.  I wonder if we would have to do the same with cars like the Volt?

Posted by: jcallery at 08:29 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 250 words, total size 2 kb.

The Uncanny Valley

This is so true.

Way back in 1919 Sigmund Freud postulated his concept of the uncanny. In the (cleverly named) The Uncanny, Freud explored a problem of aesthetics—when something is both familiar and unknown the experience of viewing it can be strongly unsettling. Fifty years later, roboticist Masahiro Mori presented his own work on the uncanny. Drawing heavily on his predecessor's work, Mori developed his "uncanny valley" hypothesis.

It seems the closer that robots or computer graphics get to life-like, the worse they look.  This is the 'uncanny valley', where close is simply not good enough.  We more easily accept human behaviors projected onto an obvious robot then human behaviors from something that almost looks human.  I think this is why, in general, computer generated movies have shied away from trying to be completely realistic.  Sure, there are some CGI (computer generated images) subbing in for actors in dangerous stunts, but you rarely see them standing around talking to each other.

The first movie to really try for that replacement reality feel was Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.  It was hard to take seriously because it was diificult to listen to Steve Buscemi's or Alex Baldwin's voice coming out of a different "human".  They touch on this in the video when they look at The Polar Express.  At least those characters looked somewhat like Tom Hanks, so it was easier to swallow the illusion.

I imagine the day is coming when the images will be indistinguishable from the real thing.  It appears that the first step is digitizing actors and actresses bodies when they are in the prime of their life so that they can play parts later when all they can offer is their voice.  It will be a total reversal from the first days of the movies, when all they had to offer was their looks.

Posted by: jcallery at 08:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 310 words, total size 2 kb.

Driving the 2009 Acura TSX

Two weeks ago my 2004 Acura TSX came down with a severe case of broke down-itis, and the dealer was kind enough to loan me a 2009 model while mine was being fixed.



I have to say, it's a nice ride.  I'm not all that crazy about the color, but what can you do?  I do like the 5 spoke wheels better than the 7's on mine, and Acura certainly gave the new model a more aggressive look.  However, it has the same engine as the 2004 model, and this one is an automatic where I drive the 6-speed manual.

Inside, it's a whole different story.  They threw in all the extras including GPS Nav, XM Radio, USB for your iPod, Bluetooth cell phone connection, and just about everything else.  The transmission has a sports shift mode using paddle wheels behind the steering wheel and most of the other amenities can be controlled from the steering wheel as well.  They threw in memory positions for the driver's seat, and even the side view mirrors reposition themselves when you are backing up.  Just in case the rear-view camera lets you down, I guess.

Overall, an enjoyable driving experience - however I am ready to get mine back.  You just can't replace the feeling of control driving a good standard gives you.

Posted by: jcallery at 07:01 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 225 words, total size 1 kb.

Tesla Roadsters crash like any other car

I'm a big fan of the Tesla electric Roadster.  My thought is if you want people to buy an electric car, then you need to build an electric car people actually want to buy.  And Tesla is the first company to do it.  So, it really pained me to see this.

Needless to say, if they are looking for a buyer for a 'reconditioned' Tesla, I would be happy to talk with them.

Posted by: jcallery at 01:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 80 words, total size 1 kb.

The Osirak Raid

In 1981, Israel bombed Saddam Hussein's nuclear bomb facility in Osirak. This story in the Jerusalem Post tells the tale of just how dangerous it was, and how close to failure they walked. They then contrast it with what it would take to damage Iran's nuclear bomb making facilities. I find the tale of Osirak more interesting.

Israel's legendary destruction of Osirak - a near-impossible operation, pushing the F-16s further than they had been built to fly, evading enemy radar for hundreds of miles, to precision bomb a heavily protected nuclear target - has entered the pantheon of acts of extraordinary Zionist daring as a clinical example of pre-emptive devastation, executed with breathtaking, ruthless accuracy.

But, things did not go quite that smoothly

But as detailed in American journalist Rodger Claire's overlooked study of the mission, 2004's Raid on the Sun - in which he spoke, uniquely, to all the pilots, their commanders, and key players on the Iraqi side of the raid as well - the bombing of Osirak was far from error-free. It was an astonishing, envelope-pushing assault all right. It succeeded, utterly, in destroying Saddam's nuclear program - a blow from which he would never recover. It safeguarded Israel from the Iraqi dictator's genocidal ambitions. But Raz's mistake on the final approach was only one of several foul-ups that could so easily have doomed it.

Here is one of my favorite parts.

Potential disaster also struck when, as the eight F-16s violated Jordan's airspace en route to their target, flying low to evade radar, they were spotted by King Hussein, out sailing his royal yacht at Aqaba. The king phoned his defense headquarters in Amman to report the sighting of what, despite the camouflage paint, were all-too evidently Israeli F-16s streaking eastward on a bombing run. He was assured that his security apparatus had picked up nothing suspicious. If the king tried to alert the Iraqis, he evidently failed to do so.

And, the Iraqi's did not help their cause.

And over the target zone itself, the operation was immeasurably eased by the fact that not only had the Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery units taken a break for their evening meal just prior to the raid - as the Mossad had established they would - but they had also, inexplicably, shut down their radar systems. These systems were still only warming up when the Israeli pilots bombed the reactor; the Iraqi defense teams thus had no radar or computer guidance as they tried to fire back and the Israelis - right through to the last, most endangered of the pilots, Ilan Ramon - were able to bomb and escape the scene. The only people hit by the panicked defensive fire, indeed, were Iraqi soldiers on the far side of the Osirak complex, several of whom were killed in the chaos.

Can they do it to the Iranian's? Possibly - technology has come a long way since 1981, and with GPS I don't think they will be getting lost. The F-16 is still not a very stealthy plane, but the Israelis fly them well. However, I do not think that the Iranians will be as lax with their security as the Iraqis were.  I guess we'll see what happens.

Found on Powerline.

Posted by: jcallery at 08:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 546 words, total size 4 kb.

This is just sad

Apparently IT students can't be bothered to do their own homework anymore.

UK IT students are hiring coders in India to complete their coursework for as little as £5 a go.

A-level and university pupils are logging onto computer coding websites and farming out their work to foreign IT graduates.

I imagine if it's happening in the UK, it's happening in the US.

I can't decide if this is the utmost in laziness, or the utmost in intelligence - assuming you have the money to burn.  But, I think that they are going to come to a point in their career where they will actually wish they had put the work into actually learning to code instead of how to pay someone to code.

Of course, coding is something that people tend to either love or hate.  And if you love it, then why pay someone else to do it?  And if you hate it enough to pay someone else to do it, why are you in that major anyway?

via Slashdot

Posted by: jcallery at 12:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 176 words, total size 1 kb.

A Family Portrait

Scientists working with the Spitzer Space Telescope have created a 800,000 image mural of the Milky Way galaxy.  That's pretty impressive, and certainly helps give us a sense of scale.

Here is a viewer that allows you to zoom in on parts of the picture. 

Posted by: jcallery at 06:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 48 words, total size 1 kb.

Christian dating sponsored by who?

On the way to work today I caught the daily Kim Komando update.  It was about the Christian dating site BigChurch.  All well and good, until she mentioned who owns it.  And who would that be?  Penthouse.  That's right - Penthouse.  Take a look (all links are safe)

• Go to the BigChurch homepage
• Click on the Corporate link down at the very bottom
• Then, click on management team

You are redirected to Penthouse Media, which is "Globally recognized as the premier adult entertainment and lifestyle brand, Penthouse Media Group Inc. is the largest adult entertainment company in the world."

Signing up for BigChurch and paying their fees would directly finance Penthouse and their pornography.  I don't know about you, but that's not what I would want my Christian website doing.

Posted by: jcallery at 07:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 132 words, total size 1 kb.

Is the Surge a Success?

The jihadists seem to think so. Ace points the way to a fascinating look at the attitude and morale on the other side of the war. It's not a pretty picture for them.

A prolific jihadist sympathizer has posted an ‘explosive’ study on one of the main jihadist websites in which he laments the dire situation that the mujaheddin find themselves in Iraq by citing the steep drop in the number of insurgent operations conducted by the various jihadist groups, most notably Al-Qaeda’s 94 percent decline in operational ability over the last 12 months when only a year and half ago Al-Qaeda accounted for 60 percent of all jihadist activity!

The chart on the Talisman Gate blog says it all.  Their operational capacity has been severely reduced since the start of the surge.  They have been run out of one stronghold after another, culminating with Maliki personally overseeing the current front against AQI in Mosul.  A front he had to leave in order to meet with Rep. Pelosi in Baghdad.  The good thing is that even Pelosi is finally succombing to the overwhelming evidence and acknowledging that the surge is working - something that even the jihadists have understood for some time now.

Posted by: jcallery at 01:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 208 words, total size 2 kb.

In the Military? Forget about running for President

OK, this is just ridiculous. Apparently volunteering to serve your country in the military will now disqualify you from being president. At least, according to the Democrats.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain's family background as the son and grandson of admirals has given him a worldview shaped by the military, "and he has a hard time thinking beyond that," Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Ia., said Friday.

"I think he's trapped in that," Harkin said in a conference call with Iowa reporters. "Everything is looked at from his life experiences, from always having been in the military, and I think that can be pretty dangerous."

Harkin said that "it's one thing to have been drafted and served, but another thing when you come from generations of military people and that's just how you're steeped, how you've learned, how you've grown up."

As Powerline says "So it's OK to serve in the military, but only if you're drafted. Given that we now have an all-volunteer military, that standard will rule out everyone currently serving."

Let's apply that requirement to some of our past presidents. We would have to rule out:

• George Washington
• James Monroe
  
• Andrew Jackson
• William Harrison
• John Tyler
  
• Zachary Taylor
• Franklin Pierce
• Andrew Johnson
  
• Ulysses Grant
• Rutherford Hayes
• James Garfield
• Benjamin Harrison
• William McKinley
  
• Theodore Roosevelt
• Harry Truman
  
• Dwight Eisenhower
• John Kennedy
• Lyndon Johnson
• Richard Nixon
• Gerald Ford
  
• Jimmy Carter
• Ronald Reagon
  
• George H. W. Bush
• George W. Bush
  

25 of the 42 people who served as President were also members of the military at some point. And that does not include those who served in state militias.

And any of you presidential hopefuls currently serving - too bad.  At least, according to the Democrats.

Posted by: jcallery at 08:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 276 words, total size 2 kb.