Technology
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It’s almost as if this Green Energy stuff was just one big scam
The latest analysis of wind power in the UK is not optimistic: Analysis of hard data from National Grid shows that wind behaves in a quite different manner from that suggested by study of average output derived from the Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) record, or from wind speed records which in themselves are averaged. It Read more
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Flipping education!
The Amazing Khan does it again with his suggestion to do lectures OUTSIDE class, and “homework” IN class. The guy’s a madman. A wonderful, gifted madman. Update (28 March). This must be a big deal inedeed if even cow grazier Gary Jones gets intrigued. Read more
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Data mining for cheaters
Using data forensics to detect cheaters on standardized tests..is there anything statistics can’t do? Tip from the Geek Press. Read more
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Optimal Grilling
The Rapid Steak Algorithm. OK, so it’s really an introductory article about operations research, which we at UTSA, in our infinite wisdom, call management science, to keep the engineers from getting their grubby paws on it. Writer Sanjay Saigal (is that some kind of Houston name?) promises more of this good stuff. Tip from the Read more
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Birds, bats, and wind farms
Surprise, surprise! Just like in California, flying critters in Texas get whacked by wind turbines. The problem seems to be most worrisome along the Gulf. The wind farm developers are studying the problem–and installing safeguards, but they’re getting nothing but grief from conservationists, who want the developers to make their data public. Those who opposed Read more
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Not quite ready for prime time
This sounds like a great innovation, using Raman spectroscopy to detect melanoma. But let’s look a little deeper at the preliminary results. First, the developers claim that in 274 known cases of melanoma, the device detected all 274 of them, which gives and estimated test sensitivity of 100%, which is patent bullshit; nothing in this Read more
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A credible review of the new Volt
Gene Weingarten establishes his (minimal) car creds and tells it like it is in his review of the new Chevy Volt: This would be a good time to address an issue I’d hoped would be pivotal: This car is designed to annoy people like me, by which I mean obnoxious, proselytizing proponents of clutch-and-stick driving. Read more
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Maybe they should have launched their space probe at night
A Japanese space probe intended to orbit the planet Venus has overshot its mark and been dragged into orbit around the Sun. Dang! Who put the Sun there? Read more
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Update, update, have another update
Is it just me, or is are software developers slinging out patches to their half-assed software even more frequently than usual? I just had to restart my PC, and, as is more and more typical, Java and Adobe both had another friggin’ update to install. I begin to wonder if anybody ever codes anything right Read more
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Fair of face with feet of clay
I think these two articles go together. Virginia Postrel writes on “The Allure of Techo-Glamour” and says “you can’t counter glamour with statistics.” BLDGBLOG reviews Robert Sullivan’s Rats, which reminds us that hip infrastructure has its own set of problems. ‘They design buildings to support pigeons and for infiltration by rodents because they don’t think Read more
The Random Texan 