Barn: conduit is being run!

Barn: conduit is being run!  This morning the builder's son (Trent J.) finished up the shovel work on the conduit trench (I finished the tractor work on this two days ago).  Now the builder (Jim J.) is installing the conduit in the trench, with the pull rope inside of it.  The pull rope in this case is rated for 500 lbs. of pull strength.  The power company will attach it to the wires and pull them through. 

Once all this is installed in the trench, we'll get the power company out here to inspect.  Assuming we pass, that sets our place in the queue for their contract work.  Last I checked, that queue was about three weeks long...

Barn: the siding is going on!

Barn: the siding is going on!  A crew of five showed up this morning, unloaded all sorts of tools (including a 20' metal-bending brake), and went right to work.  Much hammering, sawing, and metal bending is happening (and all in the cold, now at 22°F)...

Awesome geekery!

Awesome geekery!  That's a drawing of 18th century Italian scientist Amedeo Avogadro...

Common “myth-conceptions”...

Common “myth-conceptions” ... the world's most contagious falsehoods.  Via friend, former colleague, and occasional reader Aleck L.  One example to give you a flavor:

Napoleon was short.  A tall tale.  At 5'7", he was actually above average height for a Frenchman of that time.

Acer palmatum...

Acer palmatum ... otherwise known as “fall color”.  Via BPOD, of course...

Mechanical Fourier analysis (transform)!

Mechanical Fourier analysis (transform)!  I've only read about, and seen photos of, these machines that were invented by Albert Michelson, the physicist most famous for his measurements of the speed of light.  These machines were manufactured into the early part of the 20th century. 

The video is a bit of a tease, as it's only the introductory video for a series of six – the rest of which will be released over the next couple of months.  It does show a little bit of the machine in operation, though.  It also gives you a bit of background and history if you're not familiar with Michelson's machine...

An unlikely occurrence...

An unlikely occurrence ... wherein the Wall Street Journal editorial board agrees with me, this time on Obama's call for “net neutrality”.  Their conclusion:

Whatever “liberal” used to mean, it now means a self-interested machine of influence peddling and rent extraction. Well do we recall Cass Sunstein, Mr. Obama’s colleague at the University of Chicago, saying President Obama would surprise the world by being a “smart” regulator. What a bunch of hooey that turned out to be. Meanwhile Americans are undoubtedly tired of hearing how Washington has become America’s richest, most recession-proof area code. Net neutrality is one more example of how it got that way.

Indeed...

Kids react to old cameras...

Kids react to old cameras... The “old cameras” these kids are looking at are from the '90s, when auto-loading film, electric advance, auto-focusing, etc. were common features.  I wonder how the kids would have reacted to the cameras common in my youth?  An old Brownie, perhaps?  Or a twin-lens reflex probably would really have freaked them out!

Beautiful trumpet rendition of our national anthem...

Beautiful trumpet rendition of our national anthem...

8°F...

8°F...  That's the temperature in Paradise on this lovely November morning.  Brrrrr!

Philae is on the way toward it's landing on 67P...

Philae is on the way toward it's landing on 67P...  Live streaming coverage: