More power to you

Kevin Kelly first taught me about this most excellent product:

Disposable alkaline batteries are not perceived by most people to be rechargeable, and that's how the manufacturers like it. Until digital pulse-technology chargers came out a few years ago, it was NOT an option for most people. Alkaline battery walls are very thin, and the heat generated by simple brute-force recharging frequently split them open with a bang.

Battery Xtender, about $40, recharges REGULAR batteries. That's right. Alkaline batteries that survive for years in one remote control, and that cost about $1 each at the store, or 50¢ at costco, can be given as many lives as a cat.

Thanks Mom. Nice Christmas gift.

Make the pain go away

New Scientist SPACE - Features - 13 things that do not make sense:

The placebo effect
DON'T try this at home. Several times a day, for several days, you induce pain in someone. You control the pain with morphine until the final day of the experiment, when you replace the morphine with saline solution. Guess what? The saline takes the pain away.

Most of the other 12 scientific whaaaa?s are more a part of the physical universe. Thinking of them reminds me of conversations with Mike and Brian back at Casa Bonita. I felt proud to theorize with them about the state of the universe. There was a strange hope that they or someone we knew would one day tell the world about the world's mysterious secrets.

Trying to understand these problems feels like hugging an elephant. The skin is rough, the hair is coarse, and the elephant probably does not care.

prerogative

i wish i could do as much with my 24 hours.

think of this as more like freeze tag.

You're it, but you have to wait for your teammate to come along and 'unfreeze you'.

I don't know what that means.

Murtha Says Military Can't Accomplish Mission, but Couric Sees Chaos in Hasty Retreat | NewsBusters.org

Murtha Says Military Can't Accomplish Mission, but Couric Sees Chaos in Hasty Retreat | NewsBusters.org: "She continued: 'Furthermore, what about the argument that if the US withdraws prematurely, the country will dissolve into a bitter, terrible, extremely violent civil war. It will encourage instability throughout the region.'

With her voice rising in a manner that indicated she was speaking her own mind, she suggested that 'the United States will be seen as those who cut and run.'"

I just love that John Murtha is speaking so strongly. I hope others will follow his lead.