Jamison Koehler put up a post on the fraction of your breath that a breathalyzer uses to estimate your blood alcohol ratio. He's had expert training in DUI defense and therefore DUI-related technology, whereas I've just had some basic math and science education. But it's an interesting subject, and I thought I'd try to explain what I think is happening from a science-ish point … [Read more...] about Some DUI Science and Guesswork
Science
NSA Surveillance – Some Technical Speculation
The NSA story is still breaking, so almost anything I write may soon be overtaken by new information, but I thought I'd address one aspect that involves an area in which I have some expertise: Although whistleblower Edward Snowden claims that major tech corporations such as Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and Facebook have given the NSA direct access to information on their servers, … [Read more...] about NSA Surveillance – Some Technical Speculation
Facebook Thinks I Like What?!?
Over on her Facebook page, writer Jennifer Abel is getting pissed off at some of the stuff Facebook is recommending for her: If this were England, I would sue Facebook for libel; I am THAT offended by the pages they suggest I "like." Seriously: what the hell did I EVER post, here or anyplace else, to make anybody think I'm a bigot who would support any of those vile … [Read more...] about Facebook Thinks I Like What?!?
Alarming Asteroid News…If It Were True
Yesterday, Roger Ebert tweeted: Bad luck. The asteroid that came so close to Earth is coming baaaaak. dld.bz/chPtq Well, of course. It's a known near-Earth object. They do that by definition. But the linked article by Andrew Malcolm at Investor's Business Daily was a little more alarming than that, at least until I realized he was making stuff up: Now, about that other bad … [Read more...] about Alarming Asteroid News…If It Were True
On the Significance of Mass Shooters
Over at Reason, Nick Gillespie takes a look at spree-killer (and ex-cop) Christopher Dorner's "manifesto" and pronounces it useless: If there is a message buried deep within Dorner's incoherent litany of recriminations, anger, and random name-checks, it's this: People who go on shooting sprees typically tell us very little about society at large. They are by definition far, … [Read more...] about On the Significance of Mass Shooters