Technicalities

February 24, 2010

Some This and That

We got about 6 inches of snow last night. Heavy wet snow. (I'm ~~not~~ officially tired of winter crap - not only that but I'm tired and can't even post correctly - the "not" wasn't supposed to be there.). Now it's raining.

Schizo forecast:

This Afternoon: Rain before 2pm, then snow between 2pm and 4pm, then rain after 4pm. High near 36. Northeast wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 5 to 9 inches possible.

The auger belt is slipping on the snow blower. How annoying.

***

Saw another tweet today lamenting the lack of internet access speed/supposed relatively high cost of internet access in the US as compared to "other countries".

I always see these claims being made, yet I never see any actual data to support the claims.

- Who measured the speed? Is there hard evidence to support the claim? (unlike the faked climate numbers...)
- Where? In a lab? In homes? In offices?
- Is this speed accessible to the general public everywhere?
- Did it include the countryside or only the cities?
- Does the government subsidize cost? (this would mean you pay higher taxes and maybe even make the cost for access greater than US private cost)
- What is the relative size of these countries compared to the US?

There are many more questions, but let's leave it at that. I get very tired of seeing these sensational claims with nothing to back them up.

***

Body scanners - coming to an airport near you.

O'Hare Airport will receive its first "full-body scanner" next week in Terminal One...

One? For O'Hare? The airport that handles the highest number of passengers in the country?

My advice: Get to the airport way early - like several days in advance. And be prepared for spectacular failure as I'm quite sure this will work just as well as any other government project.

If you're worried about the total body scan...

The TSA says full-body images are viewed in a walled-off location and are not visible to the public.

So only those highly vetted TSA agents can see you naked. I feel so much better.

***

Now back to work. Been rather busy the last few days.

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 11:56 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 380 words, total size 3 kb.

1 I am just sooooo glad I didn't fly out of O'hare this trip. Now even more so!

Posted by: Richmond at February 24, 2010 12:16 PM (Ydkbj)

2 Yeah, Midway is looking better and better no matter where I want to go in Chicago.

Posted by: Teresa at February 24, 2010 12:34 PM (ZCuP9)

3 I gotta check out a career in the TSA.

Posted by: Cappy at February 24, 2010 04:48 PM (ALkDW)

4 I'm not sure I want to ever fly again. It doesn't help, however, that we're a three-day drive north of Seattle ... sigh. It looks like vacations will be fewer & farther-between, as we'll have to allow about two weeks for driving (total).

We're vacationing in-state, this year. That's not all bad; after all, this is Alaska. Woo-hoo!

Posted by: Rev. Paul at February 24, 2010 05:43 PM (0DZhf)

5 "Better" internet access/speed? Gov't supplied? Do they also monitor your goings on? Makes one wonder. Regarding the full body scanners: Las Vegas and Phoenix already have them. They are not being used. Or at least not being used on every passenger. Yet. I've seen them there. And they stand unused. Wonderfully expensive sculpture at this point. Personally, I'd like to see the study that breaks down the amount of radio waves/electromagnetic waves that are scanning us. How safe are they really? Especially for people who may already be at very sensitive levels. Kinda makes you go "hmmm", doesn't it?

Posted by: Da Goddess at March 02, 2010 04:32 PM (7NJrO)

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