A few posts ago I mentioned concern about how the transformation of retail might hurt the interesting cultural feel in Europe. However, after reading this article about how small towns might be the savior for retail, I am a little more optimistic. There is no question online shopping will further transform the retail shopping model […]
Other Stuff
I recently spent a couple weeks on my first trip to the Netherlands, and thought I would share some random observations. I spent a week in Einhoven, a couple days in Delft, and a few days in Haarlem, and I feel I got an interesting immersion into Dutch culture. The Netherlands wasn’t at the tops […]
I was in a discussion with a family member who was heading for vacation, and he asked me if I had any reading recommendations. Most years I rarely get through more than a book or two, but this year for some reason I plowed through a bunch of books. I typically read histories and biographies, […]
A while back, I saw a tweet from Elon Musk recommending the reading of the book ‘The Machine Stopped’, and was curious as I thought I was somewhat up on historical science fiction. You can access a public domain copy of the book here: http://archive.ncsa.illinois.edu/prajlich/forster.html Considering this book was written in 1909, the vision of the […]
I know America doesn’t have the money to waste on art projects (we need to keep adding to that defense budget) – but Iceland is providing a great example of alternative ways of spending money other than on a bloated defense budget. Take an existing eyesore, add some ingenuity, and you get a piece of […]
I had chance to pull the stats from the solar panels I installed in mid-January 2015 (more details here) – and there is some good news and bad news. The good news: My total power production for the year (from mid-January on) was 4005.5 kilowatts. We had a pretty optimal year for solar – […]
I will admit I hadn’t tied the whole Russell Wilson contract negotiations and this baseball sideline thing until I read this article about baseball not being a ‘ploy’. This is setting up to be an interesting face-off between the Seattle Seahawks and Wilson. Wilson goes into the 2015 season in the last year of his rookie […]
I was amused when I saw the ‘curious’ call in the Dallas – Detroit NFL playoff game that has garnered so much attention. It seems to me faceguarding a player is one of the standard pass interference calls to be made, and this looked like a textbook example. So it was odd that even after […]
Its been a year since I reduced my work schedule in order to pursue stuff I never get around to doing. Over the years I have been falling behind on just about everything – from house projects to learning about new technologies. When I first made the decision to reduce my weekly work commitments, I […]
The results from the NFL Draft are in – and Michael Sam was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the 7th round – the latest of any player who received SEC Defensive player of the year honors. However, Michael Sam was named co-defensive player of the year, so maybe that could be used to […]