Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Amazon abandons $1.4 billion deal to acquire Roomba maker iRobot. Which in turn lays off 350 people.

- The James Webb Space Telescope's first image of Saturn. (Via)

- Agree 100%. Also $2.3 billion can be taken from the budget straight off.

- You're never too old to start exercising.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Naval for Kids. Great lessons for children. 

- Who knew? Jethro Tull was an actual historical figure not just the name of a rock group.

- Interesting - Saturn is losing its rings. They only have about 100 million years left before they're gone.

- Funny because its true!

Find Something Beautiful Today

Cassini's last image before entering Saturn's atmosphere and burning up. (Photo via) Headline stolen borrowed from Execupundit.

Find Something Beautiful Today

Picture taken by the Cassini probe from Saturn in 2013 showing the Earth in the background. Headline stolen borrowed from Execupundit.

A True Thing of Beauty

Cassini's last image before entering Saturn's atmosphere and burning up four years ago this week.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Saturn's moon Titan drifting away at a rate of 4 inches a year. Our moon is drifting away from us at a rate of 1.5 inches a year.

- New SpaceX spacesuits get 5-star ratings from NASA astronauts. Part of me is sad because the previous space suits were manufactured in Worcester by the David Clark Company.

- Interesting - how the cornavirus has affected Xi Jinping's power in China. "Historically, a strongman in solid control of the military and secret police are rarely brought down by a single crisis. Instead, their authority and prestige are progressively eroded by a succession of policy errors and political missteps as doubts about their leadership grow among the ruling elites and the impact of their misrule fuels social discontent."

- The Gospel according to Peter Thiel. I find Thiel to be a fascinating person. (Hat tip Execupundit)

- Tesla is now the world's most valuable automaker. If not for Elon Musk American car manufacturers would be getting lapped by other nations. What happened? The USA used to own the car manufacturing market.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- I'm an awful person for laughing at this.

- Cool - Dragonfly the nuclear powered drone NASA is sending to Titan (one of the moons of Saturn)

- Speaking of cool stuff.

- Nice appreciation of the recently passed Ric Ocasek

- What a great Fenway moment

- Annotations in copy of Shakespeare's First Folio may have been written by John Milton

- Another cool baseball moment. (Thanks Ted)

A Thing of True Beauty

Cassini's last image before entering Saturn's atmosphere and burning up.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Awesome! Allman Brother's Whipping Post played on just strings by Berkley College of Music Students

- Interesting - Jony Ive, iPhone designer, announces Apple departure. He was more than just the iPhone designer - he along with Steve Jobs created the whole iconic look and feel of pretty much all of Apple's products.

- NASA announces Dragonfly mission to Saturn's moon Titan

- Speaking of NASA and space - extraordinarily beautiful pictures of Jupiter via the Jet Propulsion Labs

- 20 cognitive biases that affect your decisions

- The sibling rivalry that burned up an $800 million oil dynasty. Insane, but true story. Long read but fascinating. About a third of the way through I started picturing the two brothers as Will Ferrell and John C Reilly

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Tony Mendez "Argo" spy who smuggled US hostages out of Iran during crisis, dies at 78.

- Governor Charlie Baker wants sports betting in Massachusetts. I want it too.

- Interesting - death is weirder than you think

- Conan O'Brien on the temporary nature of fame

- The massive mystery of Saturn's rings

- Identical twins get different results on DNA tests from 5 companies.

- Nice profile of Patriots defensive coach and the next had coach of the Miami Dolphins Brian Flores

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

When you hear the MSM criticize President Trump for his relationship with Saudi Arabia just keep in mind that President Obama attended the funeral of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah but skipped the funeral of Britain's Margaret Thatcher and the MSM never said a peep... Very cool!... I've always had an issue with the Fleetwood Mac song You Make Loving Fun - as opposed to what? You Make Loving Feel Like Working in a Coal Mine?... ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports that Hue Jackson is the front-runner for 11 out of 12 head coaching positions... Good to know... Speaking of NFL head coaching jobs - how many interviews do you think Condoleezza Rice has lined up?... I think the simple solution to the Oscars host issue would be to have Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally co-host. Problem solved...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The hero who helped foil Nazi nuclear plans passes at age 99. Where do we find such men?

- Cool - voyage of the moons

- Another example of how Alex Cora just gets "it".

- The TV, PC screen, or smartphone - they're all idiot boxes which will turn your mind to mush. NO matter what your age!

- Bill Belichick's World Series opening video for Fox

- This weirdly geometric iceberg is freaking us out

- Heh Heh

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

This was a classy move - by both teams... "The Bills marketing department this year has gone with the slogan 'One Heart, Beat Louder.' Our projections predict what that slogan literally tries to tell you: they're going to get beat louder this year." Football Outsiders 2018 Almanac... Bill Clinton never disappoints... "But if you don't understand what this is, its when you put your ding-dong sauce out and give them a sample." Marshawn Lynch (no relation) explaining urine testing (also from the Football Outsiders 2018 Almanac)... A thing of true beauty... This is how Buzz Aldrin treats his American flag. Do you think Neil Armstrong would be any less patriotic? Going to take a hard pass on seeing First Man... If they came out with a preview showing Jennifer Garner planting an American flag in the chest of a bad guy the movie Peppermint would absolutely crush at the box office...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Flying cars are coming closer to reality.

- Very cool - Saturn peeking out behind the moon

- Heh Heh

- Love Secretary Mattis

- Did not know this

- 10 podcasts that will make you smarter

- Damn - so sad to hear of the passing of J. Geils

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I'm a bit of a political junkie but last night I skipped Condi Rice's speech and Paul Ryan's speech because Turner Classic Movies was showing Casablanca. I make no apologies. I have my priorities... Would Kendrys Morales be a good fit for the Red Sox? I'm kind of growing on the idea of bringing back Victor Martinez... If I was to give a speech at the RNC or DNC - I would randomly mention the names of states just to see if the delegates from those states jumped up and cheerer... Wow - just wow! Awesome photo of Saturn and its moon Titan... Pro Football Talk compared Tim Tebow's attitude to that of Buddy the Elf. I now cannot get that out of my head. What a great comparison... If they re-boot the Batman franchise - I hope they bring back Christian Bale as a villain. How cool and meta trippy would that be?...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

Ha - I think this is great. Nobel laureate sets up table on street and lets people ask him physics questions.

Jerry Seinfeld's web video series is off to a funny start.

Golf writer/editor George Peper bought 2 bedroom flat overlooking 18th hole on Old Course in 1983 for $65,000 and is now selling it for over $2 million. Nice investment.

Really cool new photos of Saturn

I love stories like this - Man risks $66,200 on single roulette bet in Vegas and wins!


Interesting look at Portugal's drug policies and how decriminalizing drugs over 10-years ago changed things 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Here are some incredible photos of Saturn and it's moons taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Fascinating and breath-taking... In Schulter, Oklahoma it is illegal for a woman to gamble in the nude, in lingerie, or while wearing a towel... Back on December 22nd I wrote, "Prediction - Johnny Damon signs 2-year, $16 mil contract with Detroit." I may have been high on the dollars but I still stand by my prediction that he signs with Detroit... Happy 68th birthday to Roger Staubach. Wow - 68? Really?... The Baron... In Fairbanks, Alaska it is illegal to feed alcoholic beverages to a moose... The New York Mets are an 18 to 1 shot to win the World Series. Talk about a sucker bet. It would be interesting to compare the over/under for wins this season for the Mets to what is expected from the Nationals. A good case could be made that the Nationals could win more games... Not quite helping Haiti... In Nevada it is illegal to drive a camel on the highway... The favorites to win the World Series right now are the Yankees at 3-1, the Phillies at 6-1 and the Red Sox at 7-1... Other strange state laws... Today is Laurence Maroney's 25th birthday. He was taken with the 21st pick of the 2006 NFL draft by the New England Patriots. Maurice Jones-Drew was later taken with the 60th pick. Just sayin'...