Lucy Mangan: The Luck of the Draw (Guardian)
I consider myself lucky. But, despite all their wealth and security, I suspect our political and business leaders never think that of themselves.
Mark Coker's 2013 Book Publishing Industry Predictions - Indie Ebook Authors Take Charge (Smashwords Blog)
It's that time of year when book people make their predictions for the year ahead. I bring you, my dear reader, my epic predictions for 2013. I say "epic" tongue in cheek, because I went a bit overboard this year. When I sat down to write this, I was thinking of maybe eight or ten predictions with short narratives. I'm bringing you 21 predictions with expansive narratives. Skim the headlines then read what grabs you.
Paul Krugman: "Sitcom Kabuki (Trivial)" (New York Times)
… with the sound off, you can really see just how artificial the conventions of sitcom acting are: the telegraphed double-takes, the faux-angry declarations of the men, the perkiness of the women, etc., etc. - none of it resembling at all the way real people behave.
Baptiste Henri Jacques Giffard was born in Paris in 1825. He invented the injector and the Giffard dirigible, an airship powered with a steam engine, and weighing over 180 kg (400 lb); it was the world's first passenger-carrying airship (then known as a dirigible). Both practical and steerable, the hydrogen-filled airship was equipped with a 3 hp steam engine that drove a propeller. The engine was fitted with a downward-pointing funnel. The exhaust steam was mixed in with the combustion gases and it was hoped by these means to stop sparks rising up to the gas bag; he also installed a vertical rudder.
On 24 September 1852 Giffard made the first powered and controlled flight travelling 27 km from Paris to Trappes.[The wind was too strong to allow him to make way against it, so he was unable to return to the start.. However, he was able to make turns and circles, proving that a powered airship could be steered and controlled.
In response to his declining eyesight, Giffard committed suicide in 1882, leaving his estate to the nation for humanitarian and scientific purposes. His name is one of the 72 names on the Eiffel tower.
Source
Charlie was first, and correct, with:
The world's first passenger-carrying airship, the dirigible, was invented by Henri Giffard in 1852. And yes, his name is on the Eiffel Tower.
Alan J took the day off.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, responded:
Henri Giffard
Adam answered:
Alfred Colsman
Dale of Diamond Springs replied:
In 1900, German military officer, Ferdinand Zeppelin invented a rigid framed dirigible or airship that became known as the Zeppelin. Zeppelin flew the world's first untethered rigid airship, the LZ-1, on July 2, 1900, near Lake Constance in Germany, carrying five passengers.
Too bad they used hydrogen in these blimps. Boom! I went for a ride on a US Navy blimp (out of the old US Naval Air Station at the old Oakland Airport) when I was four years old with my Grandfather and Dad. That was cool, floating high around the SF Bay Area. My Mother had a cow!!!
See Ya Wednesday-Going to Tahoe
Marian responded:
Henri Giffard invented the dirigible.
Sally said:
Jules Henri Giffard was a Frenchman who built the world's first passenger airship.
A "One Percenter" no doubt...
Happy Saturday before Christmas,
PS:
MAM wrote:
Henri Giffard (8 February 1825 - 14 April 1882)
The Giffard dirigible, created by Giffard in 1852
BttbBob answered:
The first passenger-carrying non-rigid airship was invented in 1898 by Alberto Santos Dumount, a citizen of Brazil living in Paris. Under a sausage-shaped balloon with a ballonet or collapsible air bag inside, Dumount attached a propeller to his motorcycle's engine. He used both air and hydrogen, not helium, to lift the blimp...
Airship Study Guide & Homework Help - eNotes.com
~~~~~
Cultural Observation Moment - Only in Germany would a choir of coal miners be dressed in military style uniforms (oddly enough, with French-style round kepis atop their heads)
~~~~~
Way cool link redux - 10 Things You Didn't Know About Chameleons «TwistedSifter If you missed it yesterday, here it is again. The photos, alone, are worth a look...
And, Joe S answered:
Baptiste Henri Jacques Giffard was born in Paris in 1825. He invented the injector and the Giffard dirigible, an airship powered with a steam engine, and weighing over 180 kg (400 lb); it was the world's first passenger-carrying airship (then known as a dirigible).
I'll be dipped, I would have guessed Zeppelin.
A major bear rescue sanctuary in Vietnam is facing eviction from one of the country's national parks. The international charity that runs the $2m center
says officials have told it that the land is needed for national security purposes. But the charity suspects a different motive - profit. It points to plans backed by the national park director for an eco-development by a company co-founded by his daughter...
BBC News - Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre faces eviction
It appears that Capitalists did win the Vietnam War - they just weren't the American ones...
CBS starts the night with '60 Minutes', followed by a RERUN'Blue Bloods', then a RERUN'The Good Wife', followed by a RERUN'The Mentalist'.
NBC fills the night with LIVE'Sunday Night Football', then pads the left coast with local crap and maybe an old 'Dateline'.
ABC fills the night with the movie 'The Sound Of Music'.
The CW fills the night with what passes for local news and other fluffery.
Faux has an old 'King Of The Hill', followed by a RERUN'The Simpsons', followed by another RERUN'The Simpsons', then a RERUN'Bob's Burgers', followed by a RERUN'Family Guy', then a RERUN'American Dad'.
MY has an old 'How I Met Your Mother', followed by another old 'How I Met Your Mother', then an old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by another old 'Big Bang Theory', then still another old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by yet another old 'Big Bang Theory'.
A&E has 'Storage Wars', 'Storage Wars Texas', 'Storage Wars', another 'Storage Wars', still another 'Storage Wars', yet another 'Storage Wars', still another 'Storage Wars', and, yes, yet another 'Storage Wars'.
AMC offers the movie 'Miracle On 34th Street', followed by the movie 'Miracle On 34th Street', again, then the movie 'Miracle On 34th Street', yet again.
BBC -
[6:00AM] TOP GEAR - Season 10 - Episode 8
[7:00AM] TOP GEAR - Season 10 - Episode 9
[8:00AM] ON THIN ICE-Episode 1 NEW
[9:00AM] ON THIN ICE-Episode 2 NEW
[10:00AM] ON THIN ICE-Episode 3 NEW
[11:00AM] ON THIN ICE-Episode 4 NEW
[12:00PM] ON THIN ICE-Episode 5 NEW
[1:00PM] THE NATIVITY (2010)
[3:00PM] THE RUSSIA HOUSE
[5:30PM] BATMAN RETURNS
[8:00PM] CASINO ROYALE (2006)
[11:00PM] CASINO ROYALE (2006)
[2:00AM] THE RUSSIA HOUSE
[4:30AM] TOP GEAR UNCOVERED (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', another 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', then a FRESH'Shahs Of Sunset'.
Comedy Central has 'Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special', 'Jeff Dunham: Arguing With Myself', 'Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special', and 'Jeff Dunham: Arguing With Myself', again.
FX has the movie 'Deck The Halls', followed by the movie 'Christmas With The Kranks'.
History has 'American Pickers', 'Ax Men', followed by a FRESH'Ax Men', then a FRESH'Bamazon'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] 2001: A Space Odyssey
[9:00AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Adam Scott Wears a Red Oxford Shirt & Jeans
[9:30AM] Dilbert-Art
[10:00AM] Dilbert-The Trial
[10:30AM] Dilbert-The Dupey
[11:00AM] Dilbert-The Security Guard
[11:30AM] Dilbert-The Merger
[12:00PM] Narrow Margin
[2:00PM] The Brothers Grimm
[4:30PM] Star Trek: Nemesis
[7:00PM] Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives
[9:00PM] Friday the 13th Part VII -- The New Blood
[11:00PM] Whisker Wars-The Philly Frontier
[11:30PM] Portlandia-Feminist Bookstore 10th Anniversary
[12:00AM] Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives
[2:00AM] Friday the 13th Part VII -- The New Blood
[4:00AM] Friday the 13th -- A New Beginning (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00A] MY SO-CALLED LIFE - Pilot (Episode 1, Season 1)
[7:00A] MAN SHOPS GLOBE - Mexico (Episode 7, Season 2)
[7:30A] Paris
[9:45A] The Sea Inside
[12:00P] The Quiet American
[1:45P] Paris
[4:00P] Gigantic
[5:45P] Broadcast News
[8:00P] Good Morning, Vietnam
[10:15P] Dead Poets Society
[12:30A] The Dead Zone
[2:30A] Breakfast on Pluto
[4:45A] Carny (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Star Trek: First Contact', followed by the movie 'Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country'.
Performer Kevin Alves performs in "A Klingon Christmas Carol" as his dialogue is projected on a teleprompter in Chicago, December 20, 2012. The play is an adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale "A Christmas Carol" and is translated into the Klingon language and adapted to Klingon culture. Klingons are a fictional alien culture that originated from the Star Trek television series.
Photo by Jim Young
Two British newspapers say Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has married his fiancee Sally Humphreys at a ceremony at London's Dorchester Hotel.
The Sun and the Daily Mirror carried photographs of the 65-year-old rocker with a pale boutonniere and a dark blue suit, and his 34-year-old bride in a traditional white gown and a clutch of matching white flowers.
The Sun quoted Wood as saying "I'm feeling great" as he and his bride kissed and posed for pictures outside the exclusive hotel in London's upscale Mayfair district.
The newspapers said the guests included singer Rod Stewart and his wife Penny Lancaster as well as ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shevell.
A man dressed in an Aztec costume performs a dance during a ceremony to mark the close of the 13th bak'tun outside the Pre Columbian archeological zone of Teotihuacan December 21, 2012. Thousands of mystics, hippies and tourists celebrated in the sunshine of southeastern Mexico on Friday as the Earth survived a day billed by doomsday theorists as the end of the world and a new era began for the Maya people. New Age dreamers, alternative lifestyle gurus and curious onlookers from around the world descended on the ruins of Maya cities to mark the close of the 13th bak'tun - a period of around 400 years - and many hoped it would lead to a better era for humanity.
Photo by Henry Romero
Martha Raddatz, widely praised for her moderation of the vice presidential debate in October, has been given an expanded role as ABC News' chief global affairs correspondent. Jonathan Karl, meanwhile, will become the network's new chief White House correspondent, filling the void left by Jake Tapper's exit to CNN.
Raddatz will replace Tapper as the primary substitute for George "Judas" Stephanopoulos on "This Week" and will contribute regularly to the Sunday morning show's roundtable. Karl will also serve as a substitute and regularly appear on the roundtable.
Tapper departed ABC in part because he has long been interested in hosting "This Week" full-time, but Stephanopoulos has no plans to give up the hosting job, a person familiar with the situation told TheWrap.
The late American crooner Andy Williams, famous for easy-listening hits such as "Moon River" and "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" from his beloved Christmas TV specials, had a passion for Navajo blankets. He assembled a museum-quality collection that's slated to be auctioned for more than $1 million next year.
The bold, colorful wool blankets decorated his home and office and also the Moon River Theater in Branson, Mo., where they hung "alongside large photographs of Mr. Williams with other musical legends of the 20th century like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand," said David Roche, Sotheby's consultant on American Indian art.
Williams began acquiring the blankets in the 1950s, when only a handful of people were collecting them.
The top lot is a rare Navajo Man's Wearing Blanket, woven in a "chief's first phase design" characterized by the addition of fine red stripes. Only about 50 are known to exist.
The collection numbers about 80 blankets, most woven from handspun wool.
A visitor looks at a wedding dress displayed at the Museum of Broken Relationships installed at the CentQuatre exhibition hall in Paris December 18, 2012. This short-lived exhibition space, in association with the museum with the same name in Zagreb, will run from December 19 to January 20, 2013 and will show relics of sentimental disappointment.
Photo by Benoit Tessier
From sunken steamboats to a millennium-old map engraved in rock, the drought-drained rivers of the nation's midsection are offering a rare and fleeting glimpse into years gone by.
Lack of rain has left many rivers at low levels unseen for decades, creating problems for river commerce and recreation and raising concerns about water supplies and hydropower if the drought persists into next year, as many fear.
But for the curious, the receding water is offering an occasional treasure trove of history.
An old steamboat is now visible on the Missouri River near St. Charles, Mo., and other old boats nestled on river bottoms are showing up elsewhere. A World War II minesweeper, once moored along the Mississippi River as a museum at St. Louis before it was torn away by floodwaters two decades ago, has become visible - rusted but intact.
Perhaps most interesting, a rock containing what is believed to be an ancient map has emerged in the Mississippi River in southeast Missouri.
The rock contains etchings believed to be up to 1,200 years old. It was not in the river a millennium ago, but the changing course of the waterway now normally puts it under water - exposed only in periods of extreme drought. Experts are wary of giving a specific location out of fear that looters will take a chunk of the rock or scribble graffiti on it.
The actor who played the famous yellow-eyed nemesis to Ralphie in the movie "A Christmas Story" says in a lawsuit he's the one who was bullied in real life by the National Entertainment Collectibles Association.
Zach Ward, who played "Scut Farkus" in the 1983 holiday classic, settled a suit Friday against NECA after claiming the association used his image without permission in a board game based on the film.
Ward says he made just $5,000 for his performance in the movie and sued because he did not want to be pushed around himself.
The actor says that he did agree to allow NECA to make a 7-inch action figure to be made in the likeness of Farkus, but claims to have never given permission or been paid for the use of his image in a board game.
Unlike other actors in the movie, Ward was a member of a Canadian actor's union and his contract did not provide future merchandising rights.
A participant holds up a sky lantern to be launched in Zagreb December 20, 2012. The event "Kapulica & Lanterns", organized by contemporary artist Kresimir Tadija Kapulica as part of the ArtOmat Fair ahead of Christmas, involves people releasing about a thousand lanterns to symbolize sending own wishes to the universe.
Photo by Antonio Bronic
A Florida juror who voted to convict Jamaican reggae singer Buju Banton on drug charges has denied improperly researching the case during trial, despite a weekly newspaper's report that quoted her as saying that she did.
Banton is serving a 10-year prison sentence for his convictions on cocaine conspiracy and trafficking charges stemming from a 2009 arrest. The Grammy winner faces an additional five years for his conviction on a related gun possession charge, but his resentencing hearing was postponed to investigate the report of juror misconduct.
Banton's attorneys have filed a motion in Tampa federal court seeking a new trial. If granted, it would be the second mistrial for Banton, whose first trial in 2010 ended with jurors deadlocked. He was convicted in 2011 in his second trial.
Jurors were told during the trial not to do any independent research into the case. Terri Wright, a juror from Banton's 2011 trial, was quoted in a Miami New Times report as saying that she researched parts of the case even though the judge had ordered jurors not to.
"I would get in the car, just write my notes down so I could remember, and I would come home and do the research," Wright was quoted as saying.
A British antiques dealer has been jailed for 10 months for forging the signatures of Winston Churchill and other famous figures in books he sold as collector items.
Prosecutors say Allan Formhals bought books at recycling centers and junk sales and made thousands of pounds selling them on eBay after adding the bogus autographs.
Judge Peter Henry said police who searched the 66-year-old's home in Milford-on-Sea in southern England found "an Aladdin's Cave" of forged signatures from Oliver Cromwell, Queen Elizabeth I, Marie Antoinette and others.
Ian Lawson of the Metropolitan Police economic crimes unit said police had recovered more than 100 forged volumes, but many more are believed still to be on the market.
Doctors make careless and dangerous errors, like leaving a scalpel in someone's body after surgery, surprisingly often, a new study finds.
The analysis, published Dec. 19 in the journal Surgery, used malpractice records to find instances in which surgeons operated on the wrong patient or part of the body, or left objects inside the patient after surgery.
Compared to other medical errors, the rate of such of such mistakes in the United States is very low. Still, the study found doctors leave towels, cotton balls, sponges and other surgical equipment inside patients' bodies about 39 times a week, on average. Doctors operate on the wrong body part 20 times a week and the wrong patient, also 20 times a week.
The study's findings likely underestimate the actual occurrence, however. "What we describe in a study is the low end of the range. There are definitely more of these occurring," said study co-author Dr. Marty Makary, a surgeon at Johns Hopkins Medical Center and the author of a book about hospital dysfunction called "Unaccountable" (Bloomsbury Press, 2012).
When the U.S. Air Force was designing its first supersonic jet bomber in the 1950s, it turns out bears were an essential part of the process, helping to test the plane's new ejection seats during the Cold War, according to i09.com.
The website has put together a summary of the role bears played in testing the supersonic Convair B-58 Hustler. Apparently, because Himalayan and American black bears are reasonably close in size to humans, they were deemed acceptable substitutes, after a team of humans died in an early ejection test.
So, while Chief Warrant Officer E.J. Murray became the first human to successfully eject from a B-58 at nonsupersonic speeds on Feb. 28, 1962, it was a 2-year-old, female black bear that made it into the history books for the first successful supersonic ejection from the aircraft. That occurred about a month later, on March 21.
The bear was ejected from the plane at 35,000 feet above Edwards Air Force Base at a speed of Mach 1.3. It took nearly eight minutes for the capsule containing the bear to reach the ground safely.
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