• Government,  Military

    Cool new military stuff

    July 22, 2006 /

    The Polecat, built by Lockheed Martin, was just unveiled. It’s a high altitude drone of some sort, but the most eye-catching line was

    The company built the plane with $27 million of its own money over an 18-month period.

    A pretty impressive design, for only $27 million, in only 18 months. It’s startling how much the client matters in terms time and cost. Even if you throw out the corruption and overruns (which would be huge), an internal client is much more likely to select only the low-hanging fruit, and put that into the mix.

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  • Politics,  Quotes

    Update on local democracy

    July 20, 2006 /

    Nick is correct on the primary system. From the AJC

    Anyone registered to vote as of June 19 may cast a ballot in the Aug. 8 runoff, regardless of whether they voted in the primary. But those who voted Tuesday in the Republican primary may vote only in Republican runoffs, and those who voted in the Democratic primary may vote only in the Democratic runoff.

    Unrelated quote of the moment

    “When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.”
    – Marquis de la Grange

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  • South Park

    South Park updates

    July 19, 2006 /

    Comedy Central is replaying the Tom Cruise / Scientology Episode (Trapped In the Closet) this evening. The Virgin Mary episode is still banned it seems.

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  • Atlanta,  Politics

    Democracy working, somehow

    July 19, 2006 /

    Ralph Reed goes down to defeat, and Cynthia McKinney is in a runoff against a guy with no huge party support and didn’t seem to spend much money. How cool.

    Does anyone know if you can vote in the runoff if you didn’t vote in the primary?

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  • Cycling

    Rematch with the Alabama ride

    July 17, 2006 /


    The above is actually spray-painted at the end of the Silver Comet Trail. It ends about 3 feet after this and becomes unpaved Alabama.

    I decided to try the ride to the Alabama state line again on Saturday. It was brutally humid, and in the 90s, but why not? This was my last endurance goal for the summer.

    I wound up making it successfully making the ride. It was 126 miles; over eight hours in the saddle. I wound up drinking 5-7 liters of water, 4 power bars and two bottles of Accellerade. It was a fun, but extremely draining ride.

    I saw about 10 deer, probably over a hundred rabbits and I almost ran over a dead snake. Two days later and I’m still exhausted.

    Photo Gallery here.


    Sitting in Alabama, looking at Georgia


    The Brushy Mountain Tunnel

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