So, I've been thinking about this for a while and I wanted to weigh in on the debate about the opening credits to The Daily Show. If you're not familiar with this debate, just Google "Earth rotating wrong direction" and you'll see dozens of articles and video clips about it.
First, I think The Daily Show should keep their opening credits as is. Second, I'm a huge fan of Neil DeGrasse Tyson. If you're not a fan, you should follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/neiltyson because he's brilliant while being able to explain complex concepts in a way that everyone can understand.
So, with the raging debate about the direction the Earth rotates in the opening credits to The Daily Show, how can I reconcile the two statements above? It is actually pretty easy. Let me explain.
Let's start with how much attention this has gotten. Dr. Tyson has been on The Daily Show a few times. He has talked about the opening credits enough that Comedy Central did a special version of them with a video of someone manually turning a globe the correct direction the last time he was a guest. It was hilarious. If nothing else, this debate has brought attention and commentary on something we take for granted every single day. You can't beat the sort of interest that this has brought to get people to do the research on their own and think about Earth rotation based on scientific fact. It is great.
No consider that many, many animations of the Earth used on television programs spin the "wrong direction" as identified in this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AEarth's_rotation#TV_.22earths.22_often_rotate_the_wrong_way. Before Wikipedia, I had heard the story that CBS's Wide World of Sports actually had their Earth animation spinning the "wrong direction" and had to spend lots of money to get it corrected.
Now, I'm putting "wrong direction" in quotes because the Wikipedia article points out that the direction of the rotation is based on your Point of View. If you were able to sit at a point between the Earth and the Sun, say Lagrangian Point 1, you would see the continents moving from left to right, the way Dr. Tyson describes is the way the opening credits should roll. However, if you're aboard the International Space Station (ISS) or any other satellite orbiting in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), you would be completing an orbit in less than a day. Most satellites, like 85%, are launched towards the East, so the you would be moving across the ground very quickly. From that vantage point, the continents would appear to move from right to left, as the do in the current opening credits. Since both perspectives are equally valid, there is no "right" or "wrong" direction for the Earth to appear in the animation.
Now consider that NASA, who certainly knows which direction the Earth rotates, regularly produces videos with the Earth rotating the same direction as the opening credits because they are usually produced so you can see their latest satellite in the foreground with the Earth spinning below. The best place to get lots of NASA videos and do your own inventory of them is from the NASAcast video podcast available at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting. I was watching the March 14, 2014 episode which had one of these videos, which prompted me to finally write this post.
Without getting too serious about the "right" or "wrong" direction for Earth rotation, I want to remind everyone that we're talking about The Daily Show. This is not a news program. It is a comedy program. It is just as valid (and I'll say more entertaining) as Weekend Update in Saturday Night Live. Fans of The Daily Show know that most of the comedy in the program comes from Jon Stewart making fun of the cable news networks and other news programs. What better way to make fun of news programs, than to mock the problems these shows have had in getting people to accept their rotating Earth animations. One of the first to get public notariaty was a news program and they got so much public comment about it, they went back and had the animators change the rotation. I don't think it is because The Daily Show doesn't know which direction the Earth rotates. I think it is because they are making fun of all the public commentary these animations get. Keep an eye on all of the spinning Earths in animations during the show. When the show returns from commercial just before brining the guest out, the intro, transition video has a more realistic looking Earth (with clouds and the like) the is spinning the opposite direction as the opening credits.
I claim that the opening credits are more about the comedy and less about the science.
Does this mean that Dr. Tyson is wrong? Absolutely not. He is right, from a certain point of view. He's more right to create controversy over it because it makes the audience grab a book or search the Internet or apply the Scientific Method to determine on their own which direction the Earth rotates. He is in the business of teaching science, and making it a talking point of one of the most popular TV shows is a great way to teach science and Scientific Method.
One final word about my great respect for Dr. Tyson. I want to publicly thank him for demoting Pluto to a dwarf planet. He brought to light an issue that was covering up the many objects in the Kuiper Belt. As long as Pluto was a planet, none of the other objects in the Kuiper Belt would get the recognition they deserve. Pluto never really fit in as a planet because of the inclination of its orbit and the fact that it crosses inside the orbit of Neptune. I'm glad we have an objective definition of a planet and are not working from a subjective "Star Trek" test to know a planet from the many other objects traveling through deep space. If you feel bad that there are only 8 planets when you learned in grade school that there were 9 planets, relax. Thanks to astrophysicists like Neil DeGrasse Tyson and many people behind the Kepler mission, we now have over 400 confirmed planets. You can see all of them at http://kepler.nasa.gov/Mission/discoveries/. With this many planets in the very small focus area of the Kepler telescope, there must be thousands, millions, and even billions of planets in the Universe. Some day we may actually be traveling between them as fantasized about in the show Star Trek.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Farmed and Dangerous
I'm a big fan of Chipotle. They recently posted a series of four shows about industrial farming and sustainable farming. I enjoyed them. You can too at http://farmedanddangerous.com.
If you've seen Food, Inc. or A Place at the Table, you should check out this series as well. If you haven't seen them, please check them out as well. They are available on iTunes, Amazon Instant Prime, and I think Netflix. Do a search and learn more about where your food is coming from and who's eating fresh fruits and vegetables.
If you've seen Food, Inc. or A Place at the Table, you should check out this series as well. If you haven't seen them, please check them out as well. They are available on iTunes, Amazon Instant Prime, and I think Netflix. Do a search and learn more about where your food is coming from and who's eating fresh fruits and vegetables.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Kohl's Is Electric Vehicle Friendly
I was recently visiting family and we stopped by a Kohl's store. As I've mentioned before I have a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) that I love. I noticed the charging stations in front of the store. The unit has symbols for credit cards, so I didn't park and charge. I believe that electricity in parking lots should be free. It is in Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin already.
Instead I went home and did some research on the company who built and installed the charging stations. They are an independent company trying to get many retailers and businesses to install their charging stations.
These networks of users makes me uneasy. It reminds me of the days when ATMs were based on specific networks. You could only use ATMs that worked on the same protocol as the one your bank used. Those networks still exist, but we finally standardized things enough that all of the ATMs I see work with all of the networks I know about. Maybe some day, electric charging stations will get there. It won'e happen as long as the companies making the charging stations are fighting for the tiny market share of electric vehicle owners and the smaller market share of businesses friendly to electric vehicle owners.
As I continued to do my research I found that the company that Kohl's is working with allows the retailer to set the price for the charge available. You can put money on account with the network and work that off at the different retailers. The charing station company even allows the retailers to offer their charging service for free, and you don't have to sign up and get an account with the charging station network.
With that I went to their online map of charging stations and found a number of different Kohl's stores. All of them have set their price for charging at FREE. Yes, Kohl's is doing the right thing. They are providing the option for charging while you're in their store, which is encouraging electric vehicle owners to spend more time in the store. Retailers like Kohl's are built on impulse buys. This is why Apple started opening retail stores because they could provide direct to consumer information about their products and encourage impulse buys because they knew once you tried one of their computers or mobile devices with the kind, guiding hand or a sale associate, you were likely to buy. If you spend more time in Kohl's because you want to get the greatest charge for your trip home, then you're more likely to find a couple extra things to buy that you don't realize you need until you see it on the shelf or the end cap.
So here is my hat off to Kohl's for doing the right thing for renewable energy. Thank you for the free charging stations. I'm telling all my friends, especially the ones with Electric Vehicles, including PHEVs, that they can get a free charge when they shop at Kohl's.
Instead I went home and did some research on the company who built and installed the charging stations. They are an independent company trying to get many retailers and businesses to install their charging stations.
These networks of users makes me uneasy. It reminds me of the days when ATMs were based on specific networks. You could only use ATMs that worked on the same protocol as the one your bank used. Those networks still exist, but we finally standardized things enough that all of the ATMs I see work with all of the networks I know about. Maybe some day, electric charging stations will get there. It won'e happen as long as the companies making the charging stations are fighting for the tiny market share of electric vehicle owners and the smaller market share of businesses friendly to electric vehicle owners.
As I continued to do my research I found that the company that Kohl's is working with allows the retailer to set the price for the charge available. You can put money on account with the network and work that off at the different retailers. The charing station company even allows the retailers to offer their charging service for free, and you don't have to sign up and get an account with the charging station network.
With that I went to their online map of charging stations and found a number of different Kohl's stores. All of them have set their price for charging at FREE. Yes, Kohl's is doing the right thing. They are providing the option for charging while you're in their store, which is encouraging electric vehicle owners to spend more time in the store. Retailers like Kohl's are built on impulse buys. This is why Apple started opening retail stores because they could provide direct to consumer information about their products and encourage impulse buys because they knew once you tried one of their computers or mobile devices with the kind, guiding hand or a sale associate, you were likely to buy. If you spend more time in Kohl's because you want to get the greatest charge for your trip home, then you're more likely to find a couple extra things to buy that you don't realize you need until you see it on the shelf or the end cap.
So here is my hat off to Kohl's for doing the right thing for renewable energy. Thank you for the free charging stations. I'm telling all my friends, especially the ones with Electric Vehicles, including PHEVs, that they can get a free charge when they shop at Kohl's.
Mavericks and Apple TV make every Mac an HTPC
After getting Apple TVs for all of my family I finally hooked one up in my own home. I realized that with Shared Screen updates in Mavericks, every Mac can be an effective Home Theater PC. If you've cut the cable and live with Macs, then there is no excuse for not having an Apple TV.
In 2009, as the result of an experiment with minimalism, I discovered I could live without TV service and a number of other things that clutter my attic. I also discovered that I cannot live without an Internet connection. I do love watching TV shows and video podcasts, so I bought a Mac mini. It is more expensive than set top boxes and home built HTPCs. It just works out of the box. Apple has really pushed the Mac mini into the role of HTPC by adding HDMI as a primary display output.
I selected the Mac mini after looking at a number of different options. Set top boxes were too limited. I've lived with Boxee on Linux and on Windows and on the Mac mini. It offers a lot, and it requires some fussing to make it work. Apple TV offers fewer options than Boxee. Finally Roku offers fewer options than Apple TV. I haven't used Chromecast yet. It sounds like Apple TV for Android and Google fans, though I have heard some complaints about bugs.
When I got the Mac mini, I was still watching Hulu.com, not to be confused with HuluPlus. I've been on Hulu.com since they first came out. I still remember watching Master and Commander on my laptop in the den through Hulu.com. After the market wars for mobile and TV viewers between Hulu and Boxee, I knew I still needed a full PC in order to enjoy the still available, rarely discussed free Hulu.com content.
The Mac mini offers a lot of variety in viewing online content. Start with the easy. Everything Apple is available on it through iTunes. Podcasts are also available through iTunes. Despite the craziness that was about three years of unusable Podcasts App on the iPhone, Smart Playlists still work great in iTunes. Netflix is available through Safari. Hulu.com is available through Safari. Boxee can run on the Mac mini, but I'm disappointed that the company has put all of their developer efforts to the Boxee Box leaving loyal early adopters to wonder if they will ever again be able to watch their favorite shows through the Boxee interface. CBS.com, A&E, Discovery Channel, and History Channel are all available through Safari, even if they haven't come out with Apps yet. Even Amazon Instant Prime is available through Safari and there is no indication that it will be available on the Apple TV.
For years as I was encouraging my family to get Apple TVs and finally when I bought the boxes for them, I still saw that my Mac mini had more capability than the Apple TV. My two hang ups were Amazon Instant Prime and Hulu.com.
This all ended with Mavericks. Sure I saw in July from WWDC that Apple created an AirPlay capability that allows you to extend your desktop to an Apple TV. It sounded incredible and my mind locked onto the great options that will open up for business conference rooms. (My company still has hard wired projectors with VGA cables routed through the walls and available on the conference room tables. The idea of wirelessly streaming what's on my desktop to what is being projected and allowing multiple people to share without having to toss the cable around the table seems like a dream come true.) I was so focused on the business advantage that I missed entirely the entertainment value.
This weekend while setting up an Apple TV for a friend, I got a chance to wring it out at my house. It wasn't long after I got it set up that I extended my MacBook Air's desktop over AirPlay, moved a new Safari window to the TV and started watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Opening a second Safari window and I was able to continue to edit a shared Pages document on iCloud. That's when I realized that I no longer need the Mac mini to provide HTPC capability at home. I can install the Apple TV. It does Apple entertainment better than the Mac, while still open to non-Apple content through Mavericks AirPlay from any Mac.
When I have to return my friend's Apple TV, I'm going to get one for myself. I'll put the Mac mini in the office. It still needs to manage my iTunes Libraries and my iPhoto Albums. I'll be able to AirPlay from it or my MacBook when I need to. I can listen or watch podcasts in My Stations with just the Apple TV.
Mavericks was the final piece in the puzzle to make the Apple TV the only device I need attached to my TV and still get full HTPC capabilities. Thanks Apple!
In 2009, as the result of an experiment with minimalism, I discovered I could live without TV service and a number of other things that clutter my attic. I also discovered that I cannot live without an Internet connection. I do love watching TV shows and video podcasts, so I bought a Mac mini. It is more expensive than set top boxes and home built HTPCs. It just works out of the box. Apple has really pushed the Mac mini into the role of HTPC by adding HDMI as a primary display output.
I selected the Mac mini after looking at a number of different options. Set top boxes were too limited. I've lived with Boxee on Linux and on Windows and on the Mac mini. It offers a lot, and it requires some fussing to make it work. Apple TV offers fewer options than Boxee. Finally Roku offers fewer options than Apple TV. I haven't used Chromecast yet. It sounds like Apple TV for Android and Google fans, though I have heard some complaints about bugs.
When I got the Mac mini, I was still watching Hulu.com, not to be confused with HuluPlus. I've been on Hulu.com since they first came out. I still remember watching Master and Commander on my laptop in the den through Hulu.com. After the market wars for mobile and TV viewers between Hulu and Boxee, I knew I still needed a full PC in order to enjoy the still available, rarely discussed free Hulu.com content.
The Mac mini offers a lot of variety in viewing online content. Start with the easy. Everything Apple is available on it through iTunes. Podcasts are also available through iTunes. Despite the craziness that was about three years of unusable Podcasts App on the iPhone, Smart Playlists still work great in iTunes. Netflix is available through Safari. Hulu.com is available through Safari. Boxee can run on the Mac mini, but I'm disappointed that the company has put all of their developer efforts to the Boxee Box leaving loyal early adopters to wonder if they will ever again be able to watch their favorite shows through the Boxee interface. CBS.com, A&E, Discovery Channel, and History Channel are all available through Safari, even if they haven't come out with Apps yet. Even Amazon Instant Prime is available through Safari and there is no indication that it will be available on the Apple TV.
For years as I was encouraging my family to get Apple TVs and finally when I bought the boxes for them, I still saw that my Mac mini had more capability than the Apple TV. My two hang ups were Amazon Instant Prime and Hulu.com.
This all ended with Mavericks. Sure I saw in July from WWDC that Apple created an AirPlay capability that allows you to extend your desktop to an Apple TV. It sounded incredible and my mind locked onto the great options that will open up for business conference rooms. (My company still has hard wired projectors with VGA cables routed through the walls and available on the conference room tables. The idea of wirelessly streaming what's on my desktop to what is being projected and allowing multiple people to share without having to toss the cable around the table seems like a dream come true.) I was so focused on the business advantage that I missed entirely the entertainment value.
This weekend while setting up an Apple TV for a friend, I got a chance to wring it out at my house. It wasn't long after I got it set up that I extended my MacBook Air's desktop over AirPlay, moved a new Safari window to the TV and started watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Opening a second Safari window and I was able to continue to edit a shared Pages document on iCloud. That's when I realized that I no longer need the Mac mini to provide HTPC capability at home. I can install the Apple TV. It does Apple entertainment better than the Mac, while still open to non-Apple content through Mavericks AirPlay from any Mac.
When I have to return my friend's Apple TV, I'm going to get one for myself. I'll put the Mac mini in the office. It still needs to manage my iTunes Libraries and my iPhoto Albums. I'll be able to AirPlay from it or my MacBook when I need to. I can listen or watch podcasts in My Stations with just the Apple TV.
Mavericks was the final piece in the puzzle to make the Apple TV the only device I need attached to my TV and still get full HTPC capabilities. Thanks Apple!
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