Archive: February 28, 2014

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ready, set, Iditarod

Friday,  02/28/14  10:51 PM

So, are you ready for some sled dog racing

Tomorrow is the start of the 2014 Iditarod race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska, celebrating a famous delivery of medicine via dog sled.  Iditarod itself is a tiny Eskimo village about halfway along the 1,000 mile route.  In recent years the race has alternated between a Northern and Southern route; 2014 is an even year and hence the mushers are taking the Northern Route this year.

Although the race "starts" tomorrow, it is only a ceremonial event with each musher parading through the streets of Anchorage; the true race starts on Sunday, from Willow, and then continues on for 975 miles.


Each musher starts the race with a team of sixteen dogs and must finish with at least five dogs.  (Dogs are typically "dropped" at the various checkpoints, due to injuries or because they are tired or under-performing; every dog is examined by a veterinarian at every stop.)  Each team must make one 24-hour stop along the way, and two 8-hour stops; when and where to take stops is a key point of strategy.

There are sixty-nine teams starting the race tomorrow, and I am of course rooting for DeeDee Jonrowe, pictured with her team above right.  DeeDee has competed in the Iditarod since 1980 and has finished in the top ten fifteen times, including last year.  Go DeeDee!

(All Iditarod 2014 posts)

 

cancer galaxy

Friday,  02/28/14  11:24 PM

 

a painting of cancer cells, inspired by Carl Sagan

lovely
(click to enbiggen)

 

 

Friday,  02/28/14  11:49 PM

Whew, what a day.  Great all-day meeting which extended over dinner ... I'm exhausted from spending so much time with so many people who are smarter than I am :)

Check out Time in Motion: animated photo collages that show many different times of the day all at once.  What a cool idea.  [ via Laughing Squid

Ever wonder Where Time Comes From?  Well now you know.  [ via Little Green Footballs

AppleTV 'difficult to call a hobby' after $1B in sales last year.  Somehow this does not surprise me.  I've been an AppleTV fan for years, and have wondered why they have not been adopted more broadly.  I guess it just took some time :) 

TechCrunch: a few thoughts on Free Windows.  Yeah, with OSX now free from Apple, Android and Chrome free from Google, and Linux free entirely, it will be increasingly more difficult for Microsoft to keep charging OEMs (and us) for Windows.  This has to be figuring into their thinking, as they ponder becoming MobileSoft... 

Answering the tough questions: Why programmers work at night.  Okay, maybe that isn't really a tough question. 

From The Verge: IOS, a visual history.  Shows exactly how we got tothe pinnacle (IOS 6) and are now descending the far side (IOS 7)... 

'Travelers', by Bruno Catalano, overlooks the harbor at Megeve.  "For people in search of themselves"!

 

 
 

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