Back to normal - for real.  Friday I noted I felt "back to normal", after a period of intense preparation for a couple of conferences.  But today was the first Monday of normal.  I celebrated by making a big schedule of possible travel for the coming year.  Who needs normal?

This Russian powerplant is modern, yet it uses buttons and knobs and gauges.  Is this safer?  There is something satisfying about real knobs, right?  When I was a kid I dreamed of someday owning a Marantz receiver, just because of the awesome knobs :) 

Exploring the moral universe of Wonkette.  Scary. 

So apparently too much technology has destroyed our ability to sleep.  Oh, please. 

Tesla's blog is back!  And they've posted a quick update on the Model S.  Yay!  (Their blogging is welcome but a tad lame; if you're blogging about the Model S, show us a picture of the Model S!) 

Bonus observation: car websites are among the most difficult to use, despite being among the most expensively crafted.

Philip Greenspun: Consumer Reports ranks automaker quality.  "How did your $100 billion in tax dollar contributions work out?  GM was near the bottom, with crummy cars that have average reliability. Chrysler was an outlier at the bottom, with off-the-chart bad test results and worse-than-average reliability.  This could also serve as a scorecard for government industrial policy.  The U.S. government has gone to extraordinary lengths to prop up GM and Chrysler, but their products remain uncompetitive."  Although I am loathe to let the government off the hook, I think the unions are most to blame.  

This video is most excellent, if I tell you it is a baby laughing at paper being torn, it won't do it justice.  I also love Gerard Vanderleun's caption: New York Editorial Reader in Training :) 

The need to code.  It is strong within some of us :) 

Excellent!  Real life version of UP! house attached to 300 balloons takes flight.  No word on whether this was easier or less expensive than making an animated movie about it :) 

Onward!