Really back today, from Brazil, it already seems a bit of a dream... and I'm back to reality, with commitments and deadlines, and a long todo list, all against a backdrop of steady gloom and doom from the economy. I didn't even ride today, was too tired and too cold, ended up having a nice dinner with some colleagues though, in which we sampled the inimitable Stag's Leap "Artemis". Perfect for washing down great fish and bad news.
Powerline analyzes the 2008 Presidential election and concludes It's all Relative. "This year's presidential election came down to two questions: first, do we want major change and second, which candidate will provide it. Both questions proved fairly easy for the electorate to answer in the end: it wanted significant change and believed that Obama, not McCain, would provide it." That seems exactly right to me. 
Chris Cillizza in WaPo: Five myths about an election of mythic proportions [ via Althouse ]
- The Republican Party suffered a death blow.
- A wave of black voters and young people was the key to Obama's victory.
- Now that they control the White House and Congress, Democrats will usher in a new progressive era.
- A Republican candidate could have won the presidency this year.
- McCain made a huge mistake in picking Sarah Palin.
I agree with his list. #4 seems especially true.
 Eco-geek tells us Navy-Funded Wave Farm Under Way in Hawaii. "Ocean Power Technologies and the Navy have joined together to create a small wave farm off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. The company has installed one of its PowerBuoy units one mile off the Kaneohe Bay Marine Corp Base, with plans to install others in the near future to generate 1MW." Excellent! Although don't in any way confuse this with a viable alternative to fossil fuels. That list has one entry: nuclear power.
You may have read that President-elect Obama is going to appoint a CTO for the country. Robert X. Cringley volunteers for the job. "The U.S. CTO would have to be a dynamic leader capable of speaking his or her mind and holding his or her own against a tide of critics and special interests. Hey, that's what I do every week (sometimes twice)! Maintaining and defending technology opinions is my only business and some people think I do it too well, which I take as a compliment." :)
 Has anyone seen The Rocker? It looks pretty good... never heard of it though. Apparently it features an iMac prominently, as a kid uploads video of her uncle the rock drummer, and it goes viral.
 Whenever you read about car companies lately, you read how they don't make good cars anymore. Well, unless it is about Toyota. So here's a nice review of the Volvo C30 T5 on TTAC (not noted for being kind :). "The Volvo C30 T5 is all the car you need. The more I drove it, the more I was struck by the feeling that this is exactly what a car should be. And nothing more. To recap: it’s good looking with a great interior, has more than enough power and handles with class-leading aplomb."
I'll add parenthetically we have a 1998 Volvo station wagon with that same T5 engine; weirdly, it is a turbocharged sideways-mounted front-wheel-drive 5-cylinder engine. It's powerful, thrifty, and lasts :)
 This is excellent: Popular Mechanics says Supersonics Return: Engineers to Push Business Jets Beyond the Sound Barrier. "Civilian aircraft designers have been trying to get back into the supersonic business ever since the 2003 forced retirement of the Concorde, but they have been hampered by the Federal Aviation Administration and international regulations that prohibit sonic booms over inhabited areas. Now, in a bid to bring Mach-busting jets to wealthy travelers, aircraft vendors including Gulfstream and Lockheed Martin are designing airplanes with features such as retractable nose spikes that may reduce these bone-rattling noises." Can't wait to fly in one, it is when not if... [ via Instapundit ]
Finally, did you know? Unhappy people watch TV, happy people read and socialize! And blog!!
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