Reinke Faces Life

http://www.rcrwireless.com/20150521/cell-tower-news/tower-bear-and-the-sting-of-indifference-tag8

Cell Tower News: Tower bear 
BY JARAD MATULA ON MAY 21, 2015

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Bear climbs tower for eggs

We’re all doomed. The large hairy killing machines known as bears are now bringing their endless appetites off the ground and into the skies. O.F. Mossberg & Sons captured this surprising video of a bear that managed to climb an electrical tower to feast on eggs in a nest. In the video you can see the mother bird flapping around the bear, obviously unhappy about what is taking place.

While this isn’t the first time we’ve covered a bear on a tower site, that time the bear was on the ground. With this latest development it seems like only a matter of time before climbers are working on a tower and looking down to find a bear dozens of feet in the air after their lunch.

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Probably, like climbing a tree, but easier. 

A nest in a tree is, imho, harder that a nice regular tower frame.

Guess it’s just one more adaption that the bears have made.

Like the one in north Jerzey, that figured out how to open the ‘bear proof’ garbage cans by throwing them against the garage doors. Scratch one can and one grade door on EVERY house on the block!

Laugh.

And we think we’re so smart!

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http://what3words.com/about/#what

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Better addressing will make the world a better place. A simple 3 word address can help people meet more easily, enables aid to reach those who need it most and ensures packages arrive and business are found. We are hugely excited to have created this platform and grateful for your interest. From time to time we will send you updates on how we are growing, features and new partners.

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Feel free to drop by foods.libraries.patio or filming.thanks.rearranged!

Laugh!

It is easy.

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Doing more on diversity
Posted: 05 May 2015 02:00 PM PDT
When we released the composition of our workforce almost a year ago, it confirmed what many people suspected: the tech industry needs to do a lot more when it comes to diversity. Since then, the question I get asked most is—so what are you doing about it?

You may have heard about some of the work we’ve been doing: embedding engineers at Historically Black Colleges and Universities; partnering with Hollywood to inspire girls to pursue careers in computer science; building local initiatives to introduce coding to high school students from diverse communities; and expanding our employee unconscious bias training.

But these programs represent only a sampling of all the work that is going on behind the scenes. If we’re really going to make an impact, we need a holistic plan. Today, we want to share our diversity strategy, which is focused on four key areas:

Hire diverse Googlers: In the past, our university-focused hiring programs have relied heavily on a relatively small number of schools. But, we know those schools aren’t always the most diverse. For example, while 14% of Hispanic college enrollment is at 4-year schools, Hispanics make up just 7% at the 200 most selective schools. In the past two years, we’ve doubled the number of schools where we recruit, to promote student diversity. This year, nearly 20 percent of the hires we make from a university are from these new campuses.

Foster a fair and inclusive culture: We want to ensure that we have an environment where all Googlers can thrive. We’ve raised awareness around unconscious bias—half of all Googlers have participated in our unconscious bias workshops—and we’ve now rolled out a hands-on workshop that provides practical tips for addressing bias when we see it. We’re also drawing on the idea of 20 percent time to enable employees to use their time at work to focus on diversity projects. In 2015, more than 500 Googlers will participate in Diversity Core, a formal program in which employees contribute—as part of their job—to the company’s diversity efforts.

Expand the pool of technologists: Making computer science (CS) education accessible and available to everyone is one of our most important initiatives. Our CS First program is designed to help anyone—a teacher, a coach, or volunteer—teach kids the basics of coding. And since research tells us that to inspire more girls, we need to show them that computer science isn’t just for boys, we started Made with Code—and we’re working with the entertainment industry to change the perceptions around CS and what it means to be a computer scientist.

Bridge the digital divide: We also want more underrepresented communities, including women and minorities, to share the benefits of the web, and to have access to the economic engine it provides. The Accelerate with Google Academy helps business owners get online, grow and drive economic impact.

With an organization of our size, meaningful change will take time. From one year to the next, bit by bit, our progress will inch forward. More importantly, our industry will become more inclusive, and the opportunities for currently underrepresented groups will grow. We’ll share our updated diversity data for 2015 soon. We’re gradually making progress across these four areas, and we’re in it for the long term.

Posted by Nancy Lee, Vice President, People Operations

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Note bene: doesn’t say anything about us old people!

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http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-technology/ten-amazing-inventions-ancient-times-001539

4. Ancient Roman Concrete was Far Superior to Our Own

Scientists studying the composition of Roman concrete, which has been submerged under the Mediterranean Sea for the last 2,000 years, discovered that it was superior to modern-day concrete in terms of durability and being less environmentally damaging. The Romans made concrete by mixing lime and volcanic rock. For underwater structures, the combination of lime and volcanic ash with seawater instantly triggered a chemical reaction in which the lime incorporated molecules into its structure and reacted with the ash to cement the whole mixture together. Analysis of the concrete found that it produces a significantly different compound to modern day cement, which is an incredibly stable binder. In addition, the ancient concrete contains the ideal crystalline structure of Tobermorite, which has a greater strength and durability than the modern equivalent. Finally, microscopic studies identified other minerals in the ancient concrete which show potential application for high-performance concretes, including the encapsulation of hazardous wastes. “In the middle 20th century, concrete structures were designed to last 50 years,” said scientist Paulo Monteiro said. “Yet Roman harbour installations have survived 2,000 years of chemical attack and wave action underwater.”

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Who would have thought that?

Never was mentioned in my strength of materials class back in Ingineering Skrule!

Hmm, what else don’t I know that I don’t know I don’t know?

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http://www.titleneeded.com/blog/pull-a-fixler?utm_source=99U&utm_campaign=30288d64e6-Weekly_03_13_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bdabfaef00-30288d64e6-145466209

February 6, 2015
Pull a Fixler
Jesse Hertzberg

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Five or ten minutes into many meetings at Etsy, Eric Fixler, a senior software engineer at the time, would pick up his stuff and just walk out the door, mumbling something about not being useful here. If he had nothing to contribute, he went and found a better use of his, and our, time… teaching me a valuable lesson along the way.

There is no reason to sit in a meeting to which you add no value. Everyone invited should be there for a reason, and if you are there for a reason, you should be actively contributing, regardless of role or seniority. We hired you for your experience and insight, not to be a wallflower. If you can’t actively contribute to this particular discussion, there should be nothing wrong with leaving. We certainly don’t want to be wasting anyone’s time. Everyone at a startup has a million things to do.

Thus was born The Fixler, a simple and powerful rule: If you are sitting around a conference table and your presence isn’t necessary nor adds value to the others in the room, you may get up, say ‘Fixler’, and walk out without explanation or penalty.

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Astonishingly simple.

Like when I tried to decree that every meeting had to have roles assigned: Organizer, Facilitator, Scribe, Timekeeper, Wrangler, and Naysayer. 

(Note: the Naysayer was required to find and declare “it’ll never work”, “we’ve tried that before”, or “waste of time” ofter and loudly. Or any other absolutely negative comment.)

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Advisory: Power Outage – Parts of Monmouth Junction Impacted; Traffic Lights Out on parts of Rt 522 and Route 1

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Just out of curiosity, why don’t traffic lights have a UPS and fail “safe”?

Seems simple enough!

Failure mode is flashing red arrow right?

–30–

2015-Mar-01

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIPiIMth8WM

Published on Jan 10, 2013

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Sproinging is the act of bouncing on all four legs at the same time. It is believed that sproinging allows the animal to see further afield while moving fast. Deer frequently sproing when fleeing potential predators. Llamas use sproinging as a way of showing off; displaying their ability to lead the herd. Llamas also use play as a means to show off. The Llama Sanctuary

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Hmmm, maybe that what I should be doing more of “spronging”?

Never heard of that word before. You?

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http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/0212/Alecia-Pennington-can-t-prove-she-s-an-American-or-even-exists.-What-would-you-do

USA SOCIETY
Alecia Pennington can’t prove she’s an American – or even exists. What would you do?
To the government, Alecia Pennington doesn’t exist. She has been unable to get a driver’s license, get a job, go to college, get on a plane, get a bank account, or vote. What can she do?
By Samantha Laine FEBRUARY 12, 2015

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On Sep. 24, 2014, 18-year-old Alecia Faith Pennington left her family and childhood home with the help of her grandparents. Having been raised in a staunchly Christian, homeschooled family in Texas, she was ready to set off and pursue a new life.

But she quickly realized that would not be possible. While she claims that she was born on Nov. 26, 1995, there is no actual proof of her age or identity, when it comes to the United States government.

Ms. Pennington, who says she’s now 19, has launched a campaign via YouTube and Facebook called “Help Me Prove It.” In the video, she explains her strange circumstance: she was born at home, after which her parents neglected to file for a birth certificate or a social security number; she was homeschooled and therefore has no school records; she has never been to a hospital and is without medical records. Furthermore, she says that her parents have been refusing to help her.

She appears caught in a Kafkaesque bureaucratic web – one that’s been dubbed “identification abuse,” which a small percentage of homeschooled children and adults sometimes experience, often due to the unconventional views held by their parents.

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It seems that any court of competent jurisdiction could solve this quickly.

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For Alecia, Stollar suggests that her best option is to find a lawyer who will be willing to represent her pro bono. Her campaign has at least shed light on a situation that a small but sometimes desperate group of homeschooled children face. And the easiest solution, he notes, would be for Alecia’s parents to cooperate.

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Shame on the Texas Bar association for not stepping up to the plate?

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probono@texasbar.com

TO: Legal Access Division Pro Bono Department

I’d hope that this prompts your organization to step up to the bar for her.

fjohn

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http://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/02/donald-w-miller-jr-md/more-dangerous-than-measles/

Measles vs. MMR Vaccine: Risks and Benefits
By Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD
February 12, 2015

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Short-lived vaccine immunity renders people under age 55-60 vulnerable to contracting measles at a bad age, with infants less than 1 year old and adults over 20 years old at greatest risk. The day may once again come when parents, while avoiding the vaccine, hold measles parties for their children in the age window of 5 to 9 years (like some families now do in Germany) so they can have measles at the safest time in their lives, thereby achieving the benefits of a strengthened immune system and lifelong natural immunity from this disease.

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This, to me at least, was a very interesting well-reasoned piece about the tradeoffs we’re making.

Could it be that profits bought politicians and bureaucrats? And, now we are stuck with it.

And, of course, it’s unlikely that there will be any reasoned discourse on it.

I’m not a doctor, scientist, or parent, so I’m relegated to the role of “bystander” watching this particular “traffic accident”.

I’ve gone around on the more times than a revolving door. Now I’ve arrived at the position that “parents know best”. And, perhaps, “measles parties” are the best strategy. Certainly the cheapest. And, possibly, the one with the least side effects.

Hmmm, I wonder if there are other “choices” that are foisted on us by others “who know what’s good for us”?

As a little L libertarian who is pro-choice pro-life and anti-war, I’s suggest that everyone should make their own choices in life. Just don’t make me pay for them. 

Argh!

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