My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on September 6, 2014

A very telling graph discloses three things (see story in Fortune) :

1. A college graduate will on average make $1 million more than a worker with a high school degree over the course of his lifetime … even though the cost of education has gone higher.
2. Wages across the board, adjusted for inflation to 2013 dollars, are down from 1970 – and have seen a sharp decline since 2010.
3. Just because you earn a Bachelor’s degree from college, there is no guarantee that your income will be all that much different than those with high school diplomas (blue line vs. green line for 20% of college graduates).

Be particularly careful when evaluating your readiness for college, the field of study and how much debt is being taken on before assuming higher education is the ticket to a higher income – for 25% of degreed graduates, it is not.

Category: Education, Financial | No Comments »
Tags: college, Education, fortune, graphic, tuition

Posted By RichC on September 5, 2014

Having an interest and studying a little bit of astronomy with my daughter when she was a teenager, I can’t help but share this spectacular Hubble Space Telescope image from NASA Goddard’s pix feed showing the galaxy PGC 54493 in the constellation of Serpens (The Serpent). Click for larger as its definitely worth seeing full screen … although almost looks unreal?

This galaxy is part of a galaxy cluster that has been studied by astronomers exploring an intriguing phenomenon known as weak gravitational lensing.

This effect, caused by the uneven distribution of matter (including dark matter) throughout the Universe, has been explored via surveys such as the Hubble Medium Deep Survey. Dark matter is one of the great mysteries in cosmology. It behaves very differently from ordinary matter as it does not emit or absorb light or other forms of electromagnetic energy — hence the term "dark."

Even though we cannot observe dark matter directly, we know it exists. One prominent piece of evidence for the existence of this mysterious matter is known as the "galaxy rotation problem." Galaxies rotate at such speeds and in such a way that ordinary matter alone — the stuff we see — would not be able to hold them together. The amount of mass that is "missing" visibly is dark matter, which is thought to make up some 27 percent of the total contents of the Universe, with dark energy and normal matter making up the rest. PGC 55493 has been studied in connection with an effect known as cosmic shearing. This is a weak gravitational lensing effect that creates tiny distortions in images of distant galaxies.

Here’s a an impressive video snippet (photo below) of an August 29, 2014 coronal mass ejection showing the sun spewing plasma into space. Watch the gravitational pull from the sun pulling plasma back after the initial ejection.

Category: Photos, Space | No Comments »
Tags: goddard, hubble, nasa, space, telescope

Posted By RichC on September 5, 2014

Now running WordPress 4.0,  “Benny” (for Benny Goodman) … send me a message if there is a problem on my site.

Category: Blogs | No Comments »
Tags: benny, blog, blogging, mydesultoryblog, update, wordpress

Posted By RichC on September 5, 2014

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook had a rough week on Wall Street as investors seemed a bit nervous ahead of next week’s “product offensive.” The tech giant will announce their updated iPhone 6 which will at minimum have a larger screen (rumored photo right). Secretly I’m more interested in what the operation software might bring to make “all” mobile devices more useable. MacRumors also hints at a new iPad Air that could be coming (probably later in the fall) that will be thinner and offer the fingerprint reader (security and purchases).

Another missing and much rumored gadget is a wearable device. Analysts anticipate the iWatch in a usable form, but it is hard to tell. Most want a small, lightweight devices with extended battery life that interfaces with iDevices. I’m not sure how “productive” an iWatch would be, but then we’ve all purchased fashion accessories that serve little purpose for far more money.
  
Probably the biggest unknown is whether Apple will introduce a secure mobile payment system utilizing their iPhone … that would be a big deal.

MarketWatch has been watching and reporting as well … and Apple’s competitors are not taking the 9/9/2014 product release resting on their laurels.

The company is facing stiffer competition from the likes of Samsung and Google in a fast-evolving mobile market. Cook has responded by taking a more combative and aggressive posture. At Apple’s developer conference, he poked fun at Google (GOOG), whose Android operating system is dominant in the mobile world.

"More than 130 million customers who bought an iOS device in last year bought their first Apple device," Cook said. "Many of them were switchers from Android. They bought an Android phone by mistake. And then sought a better life."

Bajarin, a veteran Silicon Valley analyst and Apple-watcher, noted the change, saying that while Cook had once been "rigid and mechanical," he has slowly become "more relaxed, more confident."
"I do believe that he has found his voice," he told MarketWatch. "He has transformed from a nuts and bolts operations guy to a true CEO figure."

Category: Apple, Cellphone, Computer, Technology | 1 Comment »
Tags: air, apple, ipad, iphone6, rumors, techfriday

Posted By RichC on September 4, 2014

Here’s an idea that came from one of those “pagination” oriented list sites … which has become the bane of Internet reading; I’m talking about those sites with multiple pages of photos or news sites requiring a bunch of page clicks in order to read an article – in my opinion the practice needs a social protest movement in order to stop it. Obviously the more clicks, the more profitable the website becomes, but it sure is a pain for readers. For my part, I refuse to participate 95% of the time.

That said, here was an interesting water saving idea posted on such a site (refuse to credit them) and promoted on Twitter (this water saving faucet concept would be great for the boat):

The sleek curve of this faucet makes you think it belongs on some gravity-controlled spaceship. In fact, there’s nothing futuristic or high tech about this faucet beyond it’s look. The 1limit faucet is just an elegant way to conserve water. The see-through glass tube of the faucet holds exactly 1 liter of water, which is supposed to be the amount of water one needs for a quick hand wash. The lever simply turns on or off, permitting or stopping the flow of water from the tube. Problem is, once you’ve used up the water you need to turn it off to refill the 2 liter tube.

Category: Archive, Innovation, Social Media | No Comments »
Tags: bathroom, conservation, faucet, kichen, sailboat, water

Posted By RichC on September 3, 2014

One of the reasons, besides age and appearance, that I replaced the halyards on our sailboat this year was due to the stiffness of the double braided line. Here’s me holding up the line demonstrating just how “stiff” this old mainsail halyard was.

Question: Is there a way to find out what kind of rope this is; because the “core” material cut like steel … very tough stuff (just age and weather or was this a premium low-stretch line?)

Category: Sailing | No Comments »
Tags: cordage, encore, halyard, line, rope, sailing

Posted By RichC on September 2, 2014

Since I’ve owned a variety of tractors and yard implements over the years with my favorite being the multi-function Bobcat branded skidsteer, I knew that I would want to share this little video gem (a friend shared on Facebook).

Category: Misc, Video | 1 Comment »
Tags: bobcat, construction, landscaping, skidsteer, talent

Posted By RichC on September 2, 2014

My wife is slowly coming around to the idea of an Elio as a commuter car. The PR swing they have been making around the country seems to have others showing interest too … but can they keep the quality up in order to sell it for $6800???

Category: Automotive, Marketing, Video | No Comments »
Tags: cars, elio, Marketing, public relations

Posted By RichC on September 1, 2014

The big news this Labor Day 2014 weekend was that my niece Jackie’s boyfriend Ben proposed her while on military leave. The announcement made for big excitement and the thought of another family wedding. Long time My Desultory Blog followers (those who follow the personal and family posts) might remember Jax from events like her high school graduation in 2007. My son’s big concern was that with his cousin receiving a ring, that “the torch has been passed.”  Speaking of rings, Ben proposed with the ring her late father (Mark Howard) gave to her mother Lynda. Very nice.

Category: Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: engagement, family, howard, jackie, wedding

Posted By RichC on September 1, 2014

Here’s a “large, hungry” Hammerhead Shark feeding in the clear “shallow” waters in Destin Florida … as viewed from a balcony.

Category: Environment, Nature, Travel, Video | No Comments »
Tags: beach, florida, hammerhead, panhandle, shark, youtube