Northfield, MN beaten by large hail

Great Northfield Storm10.jpg
Originally uploaded by Northfield.org.

Amazing photos of the hail storm of August 24, 2006, and the aftermath. An insurance adjuster's nightmare! If you own a windshield-replacing business, load up your truck and head to Minnesota!

Gift bags for the homeless

The Homeless Guy has some suggestions for how you can help the homeless if you don't have much cash, or if you're uncomfortable with giving money to strangers. Make a bunch of gift bags to hand out to the homeless when you see them, containing such universal necessities as "travel size" tooth paste and tooth brush and deodorant. A pair of new or clean socks (it's hard to keep feet healthy on the street) nail clippers, a comb, a bar of soap, gloves when it's cold out, a disposable razor, etc." He suggests you add something special, too like candles, or a personal note. I think bottled water or drinks, gum or candy, or gift certificates for fast food would be nice.

He says "Now it does happen sometimes, when you do this, that a street person will then ask you for something you don't have, or you are uncomfortable with giving. Just tell them that the packages are all you have right now, and that you're sorry you can't help more. Sometimes they will try to make you feel guilty so they can get more out of you. Be polite but firm. If you set, and hold to your limits, they will respect you for it."

Surf safely from work

workFRIENDLY is a Web site which allows you to look like you're working when you're really just surfing the Web. You put in the URL of the site you want to visit, and it makes it look like you're working on a Word 2003 document instead. It has a "boss button" you can mouse over in case someone is reading over your shoulder, which immediately switches the view to something that looks like work-related nonsense.

William Lane Craig's Virtual Office

I'm newly a fan of William Lane Craig, the philosopher, theologian, writer, and speaker, thanks to dedwarmo. I look forward to reading all of his debates and articles.

Free advice on how to fix your bicycle

Recent posts from the How to fix bikes blog:

Build your own street luge with brakes

Build your own recumbant bike

How to start your own bicycle repair business

One million pennies

Via MAKE: Blog

South Pole jobs

Raytheon: Jobs is where you go if you want to get a job in Antarctica.

" Under contract to the National Science Foundation (NSF), Raytheon Polar Services Company (RPSC) provides science, operations, logistics, information technology, construction, and maintenance support at three Antarctic locations.
RPSC seeks employees willing to invest their talents, time and energy to ensure the success of the NSF's United States Antarctic Program (USAP).
In return, we offer a satisfying and rewarding work environment, a well-balanced, comprehensive pay and benefits package, generous recognition and incentive plans, practical training, and innovative quality-of-life programs. "

We do not own any pandas

How Pandas Reach U.S. Zoos, Why They're Needed: "The nine pandas currently in the U.S. belong to the Chinese government, and are on loan to the zoos for 10 to 12 years. A baby panda born at the San Diego zoo three years ago also belongs to China and is due to be returned if and when the current SARS epidemic subsides there."

Purchase a U.S.Flag

Anyone can purchase a U.S. Flag that has flown over the United States Capitol building in Washington D.C. This can be accomplished writing a letter to your Senator with your request. Their address can be obtained by calling your local Public Library and asking for it or use the Senators of the 109th Congress web site to locate contact information for your Senator.

You may request that your flag be flown on a certain date such as a birthday or anniversary. Be sure to mail in your request at least 4 weeks prior to the date you have selected. Your flag will be mailed to you and arrive 3-4 weeks after the date you have specified (Since September 11th, 2001 it may take longer to receive your flag). Enclosed with your flag will be a Certificate from The Architect Of The Capitol certifying that your flag was flown as requested. If you mention in your letter that this flag is for any specific occasion, that information will be included on the certificate.

According to my senator's Web site, he will send flags only to residents of Our State, North Carolina. I reckon the same holds true for your senator. So it's not exactly true that anyone can buy a flag this way.

Where the brain organizes actions

Researchers have discovered that Broca's area in the brain--best known as the region that evolved to manage speech production--is a major "executive" center in the brain for organizing hierarchies of behaviors. Such planning ability, from cooking a meal to organizing a space mission, is considered one of the hallmarks of human intelligence.

God said it first, in James 3:2

2 For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

Resolution of the Human Eye

"How many megapixels equivalent does the eye have?:

The eye is not a single frame snapshot camera. It is more like a video stream. The eye moves rapidly in small angular amounts and continually updates the image in one's brain to 'paint' the detail. We also have two eyes, and our brains combine the signals to increase the resolution further. We also typically move our eyes around the scene to gather more information. Because of these factors, the eye plus brain assembles a higher resolution image than possible with the number of photoreceptors in the retina. So the megapixel equivalent numbers below refer to the spatial detail in an image that would be required to show what the human eye could see when you view a scene.

Based on the above data for the resolution of the human eye, let's try a 'small' example first. Consider a view in front of you that is 90 degrees by 90 degrees, like looking through an open window at a scene. The number of pixels would be
90 degrees * 60 arc-minutes/degree * 1/0.3 * 90 * 60 * 1/0.3 = 324,000,000 pixels (324 megapixels).
At any one moment, you actually do not perceive that many pixels, but your eye moves around the scene to see all the detail you want. But the human eye really sees a larger field of view, close to 180 degrees. Let's be conservative and use 120 degrees for the field of view. Then we would see
120 * 120 * 60 * 60 / (0.3 * 0.3) = 576 megapixels.
The full angle of human vision would require even more megapixels. This kind of image detail requires A large format camera to record."

Body Armor Fit For A Superhero

Via Business Week:

"It seems crazy, Robert R. Schiller admits: the notion that you could shield yourself from bullets, shrapnel, and knives by donning the equivalent of a wet suit. But by early next year the president and chief operating officer of Armor Holdings Inc. (AH ) aims to be selling what he describes as 'liquid armor' -- garments constructed from layers of tough fibers and fluid polymers -- to prison guards. By the end of 2007, he hopes, police and maybe soldiers will begin wearing the company's new protective gear as well. For the corrections market in particular, Schiller says, 'it has the potential to be a breakthrough product.'"

Dog litter?!

Purina secondnature Housetraining Solution is like cat litter, only for dogs. Imagine training your dog to go inside, using these "highly absorbent, non-toxic, paper-based pellets. Odor controlling, Non-tracking, non-staining, Stress reducing."