I was going to say I’m hanging with the cool kids today, but it’s really the usual nerds — my peeps. peace, mjh

Windows 8 book authors dish on Windows 8 | Microsoft Windows – InfoWorld by Woody Leonhard

Too cool. I’m terrible at all knots, even shoelaces. Mer is much more skilled. Maybe she’ll learn this one. There’s even jargon: bights and bitter ends. peace, mjh

The Forgotten Zeppelin Knot – Modern Homesteading – MOTHER EARTH NEWS

PHOTO 1 & 2:  Place bights of the two lines together, one on top of the other, so that the bitter ends lead away in opposite directions on outboard sides of the bights. PHOTO 3 & 4: Pass each bitter end around its own bight and the other bight, lead them out opposite sides of the knot, and tighten it up.

The Forgotten Zeppelin Knot – Modern Homesteading – MOTHER EARTH NEWS

Airships are coming back (really!).

Massive NASA-funded airship prototype takes off for the first time | The Verge

Earlier this month, Aeroscraft — a 36,000-pound airship prototype — successfully lifted off for the first time at its California hangar. Funded by DARPA, NASA, and the US Department of Defense, the 230-foot long lighter-than-air vehicle’s frame is made of aluminum and carbon fiber, and is covered in a reflective Mylar skin. The Aeroscraft works by pressurizing helium — the blimp-like aircraft is less buoyant when the gas is condensed, but when the helium is released, it displaces the heavier air and lifts the Aeroscraft.

The Aeroscraft uses about one-third of the fuel of conventional aircraft, and because it can lift off and land vertically, it has no need for runways or ground personnel.

Massive NASA-funded airship prototype takes off for the first time | The Verge

First, the bookstores die, then the libraries abandon books. Some child alive today will be a life-long avid reader who never holds a paper book.

I’m reading A Game of Thrones as an e-book. For the most part, I like e-books, especially for highlighting, note-taking, and searching. I miss knowing instantly and physically where I am in the book. 

A couple of my books are available for Kindle; most are not. peace, mjh.

San Antonio’s Launching the First Completely Bookless Public Library by Eric Limer

Books, who needs ’em? Libraries? Not anymore they don’t. The first public, bookless library is coming to San Antonio soon and, possibly, to a (dystopic?) future near you.

The new book-free library, called "BiblioTech," is intended to open in the fall and is part of a an entire bookless public library system planned for the entire county of Bexar. And it’s not "bring your own device" either. The library will actually lend out e-readers (of an unspecified brand) for two weeks at a time. There will also be computers and the like, but no books, and presumably no card catalog (!) either.

San Antonio’s Launching the First Completely Bookless Public Library

Curses! Forget what you’ve read here.

ABQJournal Online » Marijuana Review Is Warranted

By Dick Minzner / Albuquerque lawyer on Mon, Oct 29, 2012

There is no doubt that a professional football career shortens a player’s life expectancy appreciably. Even if life is not shortened, serious injuries frequently impair the quality of life after football. More than two thousand former players are suing the National Football League over brain injuries they allegedly suffered while playing.

These players voluntarily played football, which they probably loved, earned more money than they could have earned elsewhere and must have understood there were risks of injury. A common reaction to the suit among the public and commentators seems to be that the players made their choices and should accept the results of these choices.

An alternative common observation is that players deserve compensation if they received inadequate medical treatment or information from team doctors, and there should be better treatment and information available in the future. Nobody, however, responds by advocating the outlawing of football, even though serious injuries are inevitable.

Most Americans accept that in a free society adults can choose to do things that endanger their health, even if they seem unwise to others. Professional football is not the only, or most extreme, example.

Less visible but more tragic are the deaths of over four thousand motorcyclists per year and the serious injuries to many times that number. In boxing and other combat sports the purpose of the activity is to cause disabling injury. In college and high school sports and in unorganized sports and activities, injuries are common, some with long-lasting effects.

It is widely understood that alcohol and tobacco are proven killers and that some fast food diets can be unhealthy. We accept the decisions of adults (including, in some cases, parents of underage children) to decide whether to assume all of these risks.

There is, however, a notable exception. We spend tens of billions of public dollars annually to prevent Americans from choosing to consume marijuana and other drugs. This effort has many negative social consequences. Incarceration of criminals takes money from other needs such as education and health care. Law enforcement is diverted from other efforts. The judicial system becomes overcrowded.

Very profitable activities go untaxed, benefitting criminals at the expense of honest citizens. Our prohibition policy enriches criminal organizations and corrupts law enforcement in this country and others.

Further, marijuana prohibition has proven ineffective. Probably most adults and many high school students, if so inclined, could readily obtain marijuana in spite of its illegal status.

We should have a public discussion about whether the health risks of marijuana are clearly greater than those of alcohol, cigarettes, motorcycles, boxing and football. If not, then at least as to this drug, perhaps adults should have a choice, even if they make an unwise decision.

Are there reasons that potential marijuana purchasers in a free society should be denied the same freedom of choice to risk their health that cigarette smokers, alcohol consumers, motorcyclists, boxers and football players have?

Marijuana prohibition is, in essence, a large, ineffective government program with very substantial costs in terms of dollars, freedom and the empowerment of criminals. In an era of lean public budgets, it diverts resources that could be made available for other purposes.

Any other public program with a similar record would face substantial political opposition from both liberals and conservatives. It is time for a re-examination of our policy.

Dick Minzner is a Democratic former member of the New Mexico House of Representatives. He also was a Cabinet secretary for the Department of Taxation and Revenue.

ABQJournal Online » Marijuana Review Is Warranted

Follow the link if you want to see which cities are safest. _mjh

Top 10 Safest & Most Dangerous Cities to Drive In

10 Most Unsafe Cities to Drive In

According to the new findings, the 10 most unsafe cities for driving in the U.S. are:

1. Orlando, Fla.
2. Memphis, Tenn.
3. Glendale, Tenn.
4. Miami, Fla.
5. Las Vegas
6. Birmingham, Ala.
7. Sacramento, Calif.
8. Tampa, Fla.
9. San Antonio, Texas
10. Jacksonville, Fla.

Top 10 Safest & Most Dangerous Cities to Drive In

I have two immediate reactions upon returning to Albuquerque after two weeks camping in Colorado. First, Albuquerque is horribly noisy. That we all put up with the cacophony is a real shame. Humans are noisome and the more of us you have, the more noise (and trash and violence and destruction) you have. Still, we could put some of our creativity and oh-so limited intelligence into making the world quieter.

Second, after being immersed in green, I understand the reaction so many visitors have to the bleak and barren aspect of Albuquerque. Mind you, I will always love the expansive vista (and much more about home). It’s not just dry here — it’s exposed, naked, raw. I say this as someone who doesn’t find a deep woods comforting — I’d rather see the enemy coming from a distance, thank you. (Or hear them, in the case of all you fools with ATVs.) But steeping two weeks in innumerable shades of green from foot to a hundred feet overhead makes our tiny patch of green outside the kitchen door look like a smiley face sticker on the side of the Death Star.

See, home barely 12 hours and I’m stressing out. Did you miss me?