Drew's View

Holy Suction, Batman!

I saw this on the news the other night and was amazed. It seems that one of those big metal luggage-carrier containers was sucked into the engine of a 747 that was on a taxiway at LAX. Whoa.

Article: LA Times: Metal Baggage Container Sucked Into Jet Engine at Lax

The Economics of Seeing a Yankee's Game

I've been doing a lot of thinking and talking about the economics of sports tickets lately, both as a NHL season ticket holder and for a side-project I've been working on. So, this tidbit caught my eye: Tickets to the new Yankee stadium are so expensive that a Yankee fan might be better off going to see the team in another city--even clear across the country:

Choose one of the two options to see a Mariners-Yankees game this season, and from the very best seats:

Option 1: Two tickets to Tuesday night, June 30, Mariners at Yanks, cost for just the tickets, $5,000.

Option 2: Two round-trip airline tickets to Seattle, Friday, Aug. 14, return Sunday the 16th, rental car for three days, two-night double occupancy stay in four-star hotel, two top tickets to both the Saturday and Sunday Yanks-Mariners games, two best-restaurant-in-town dinners for two. Total cost, $2,800. Plus-frequent flyer miles.

Article: New York Post: Kay Shills as Fans Get $oaked
(via Kottke)

Memories of WWII

My old childhood friend Dave Hampton posted something fascinating on his blog: his Dad's old WWII diary. He posted scanned images of many of the pages in the journal. It's an amazing peek into the experiences of someone on the ground in Europe during the war, some of it courageous, some of i fearful, some of it mundane. All of it is fascinating.

Blog post: Dave Hampton's Blog: History and Memorial Day

Direct Link to the Scans: Dad's WWII Journal

In-n-Out. That's What a Hamburger's All About

BusinessWeek writer Stacy Perman has written a book about the western fast-food chain In-n-Out Burger. In-n-Out is a California tradition, and by far the best fast food that exists.

Perman observes that In-N-Out has prospered by hewing close to the stolid principles of controlled growth, limited menu, fresh food and regional focus -- with the exception of one store in Utah, its 232 locations are all in California, Nevada or Arizona -- set in stone by its founders, like commandments. (Harry died in 1976, his widow in 2006.) As a private company, In-N-Out doesn't release financial figures, though the trade press estimated sales in 2005 at $370 million -- a healthy sum for a small chain.

The intrigue is the machinations of the very-private family that owns the closely held company. 

The Snyders established a line of succession skipping over their older son, Guy, in favor of the more stable Richard. That well-laid plan dissolved with Richard's death in a 1993 plane crash. The inheritance passed to Guy, who had a history of drug abuse and died from an overdose of a prescription painkiller in 1999. With Esther's death seven years later, majority control became vested in two family trusts. It will pass after 2011 to Guy's only natural child, his daughter Lynsi Martinez, 27.

What little has been said about Martinez for public consumption comes from the 2006 court battle between the company and Richard Boyd, a former executive who said he had grown close to Esther, only to be shouldered aside by Lynsi and In-N-Out Chief Executive Mark Taylor, the husband of one of her half-sisters.

Sounds fascinating. I just hope it never effects the quality of the food. I might have to go get a Double-Double today.

Review: Los Angeles Times: In-N-Out: Can perfection survive?

Book: In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules by Stacy Perman

The White House official photostream

The White House has an official photostream on Flickr. It's fascinating to browse through these photos--really a real-time record of history in the making.

One has to wonder, what is discussed when President Obama and former President Clinton meet in the Oval Office? One of my favorites shows Obama climbing under the Resolute Desk like John-John Kennedy did, while meeting with Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. But perhaps the most interesting ones show the more ordinary moments, like Obama trying out different desk chairs.

By the way, what do I have to do to get a ride on Air Force One?

Ever heard of Photoshop?

You probably saw in the news that last week one of the 747 airplanes used for the President did several low-altitude flyby's of New York City while being trailed by two fighter jets. The intention was to get some publicity photos of the plane with the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan in the background. Somehow, it did not occur to anyone that some New Yorkers might find this unannounced activity startling.

Perhaps just as surprising, someone thought this was the simplest way to get the required image. The US spent $360,000 of taxpayer money on this photo opportunity. Skott Kelby, the editor-in-chief for Layers Magazine, Photoshop User magazine and the president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, spent less than two minutes creating this composite in Photoshop:

Skott has also made the following offer to the White House on his blog:

Rather than spending $360,000 somewhat foolishly (wink, wink), whatdayasay we work out a deal?

I’m trying to raise money for furniture and household appliances for an orphange in Kenya (run by Americans), and I’d be happy to actually take 90 minutes (or more; whatever it takes), and really do the compositing job right, and all you have to do is buy a freezer for around, say $360. You can keep the other $359,640 or give it to GM.

Sounds like a good deal to me.

Random Thoughts on the Porkalypse

Calling it "2009 H1N1" just does not have the panache of "Swine Flu." Personally, I prefer "Porkalypse."

141 people in the United States (population >304 Million) have the flu. And it has been the top story on every newscast and the front page of every newspaper I have seen for the past several days.

An elementary school near my home closed yesterday because six kids had flu-like symptoms. The district sent notices home that parents should plan for childcare, and keep their kids at home. Now all six kids have since tested negative for the flu, and the school will re-open tomorrow.

I can certainly understand that a flu bug for which no one has immunity is something to be concerned about, but this seems to heading past hype and into hysteria. (Side note: I love it when Anderson Cooper on CNN says "We are not trying to over-hype this," and then proceeds to cover it nonstop for an hour).

But above all, I love the practical tips that are on every newscast, in every article, and on signs everywhere you look: wash your hands and cover your coughs and sneezes. Is this new advice to anyone? Now, the CDC has posted a number of "Social Media Tools" that you can use on your blog or website to share this important advice online:

I swear, I am not making this up. I wonder what the CDC budget was for this.

Letters to Obama

There must be countless things that are hard about being the President of the United States, but here is one I had not thought of before: reading mail from ordinary citizens.

Tens of thousands of letters, e-mail messages and faxes arrive at the White House every day. A few hundred are culled and end up each weekday afternoon on a round wooden table in the office of Mr. Kelleher, the director of the White House Office of Correspondence.

He chooses 10 letters, which are slipped into a purple folder and put in the daily briefing book that is delivered to President Obama at the White House residence. Designed to offer a sampling of what Americans are thinking, the letters are read by the president, and he sometimes answers them by hand, in black ink on azure paper.

“We pick messages that are compelling, things people say that, when you read it, you get a chill,” said Mr. Kelleher, 47. “I send him letters that are uncomfortable messages.”

Article: New York Times: Picking Letters, 10 a Day, That Reach Obama
Some of the Letters: New York Times documents: Writing to the President

A Magazine With a Puzzle Buried Inside

I've always been fascinated with complex and secret puzzles (see this earlier post), although I do not always have the patience to finish them. Watching the TV series LOST unfold has been a great pleasure. J.J. Abrams, one of the creators of LOST and Fringe, took over as guest editor of WIRED Magazine's May 2009 print issue. He filled the magazine with an intricate and partially hidden puzzle. One reader has it cracked:

Steven Bevacqua was flipping through the May issue of Wired magazine when he thought he started seeing secret messages. So he spent the next several days following the hidden clues he believed he’d found, using Morse code, alternative computer keyboard layouts and even electrician’s wiring codes to solve the covert brainteasers. Finally he was directed to a hidden Web site, from which he sent an e-mail message to a secret account. A short while later he learned that he was the first Wired reader to solve an extensive hidden puzzle embedded throughout the magazine.

Article: New York Times: A Magazine With a Puzzle Buried Inside

The New and Improved Prius

I've been reading a lot about the new Prius coming out this spring. The car has been re-designed in and out, has a new more powerful and more efficient engine, is even quieter than previous models, and has solar panels on the roof.

Scott Burgess writes for The Detroit News and wanted to hate the new Prius. He came away convinced:

"...With so many improvements, even at its worst, when it arrives later this spring, it's one of the best cars out there."

Article: The Detroit News: Toyota's Revamped Prius Hybrid Gains Higher Mileage, Better Interior

Do we have too many financiers?

Career advice from President Obama, speaking at Georgetown University last week:

“One of the changes that I would like to see — and I’m going to be talking about in this in weeks to come — is seeing our best and our brightest commit themselves to making things — engineers, scientists, innovators. For so long, we have placed at the top of our pinnacle folks who can manipulate numbers and engage in complex financial calculations. And — and that’s good. We need some of that. But you know what we can really use is some more scientists and some more engineers who are building and making things that we can export to other countries.”

Article: Wall Street Journal: Career Advice from Obama and Bernanke

Mysteries of Science

New Scientist has published a list of 13 things that do not make sense. They are all mysteries of science like The Pioneer Effect:

THIS is a tale of two spacecraft. Pioneer 10 was launched in 1972; Pioneer 11 a year later. By now both craft should be drifting off into deep space with no one watching. However, their trajectories have proved far too fascinating to ignore.

That's because something has been pulling - or pushing - on them, causing them to speed up. The resulting acceleration is tiny, less than a nanometre per second per second. That's equivalent to just one ten-billionth of the gravity at Earth's surface, but it is enough to have shifted Pioneer 10 some 400,000 kilometres off track. NASA lost touch with Pioneer 11 in 1995, but up to that point it was experiencing exactly the same deviation as its sister probe. So what is causing it?

It could mean we don't fully understand the laws of Physics.

Other favorites on the list are The Kuiper Cliff and The Wow Signal.

Article: New Scientist: 13 Things That Do Not Make Sense

The Great Zucchini

Eric Knaus is The Great Zucchini--the most popular, in-demand, and expensive entertainer you can hire for your child's birthday party in the Washington area.

On the floor in front of us, the kids -- 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds -- were convulsed in laughter. Literally. They were rolling on the carpeted floor, holding their tummies, mouths agape, little teeth jubilantly bared, squealing with abandon. In the vernacular of stand-up, the Great Zucchini was killing.

The show lasted 35 minutes, and when it was over, an initially skeptical Don Cox forked over a check without complaint. The fee was $300. It was the first of four shows the Great Zucchini would do that Saturday, each at the same price. The following day, there were four more. This was a typical weekend.

Do the math, if you can handle the results. This unmarried, 35-year-old community college dropout makes more than $100,000 a year, with a two-day workweek. Not bad for a complete idiot.

But he is much more than meets the eye. He's a troubled young man who is haunted by past traumas and current addictions. This is a long but fascinating article that starts as a puff piece about a party clown and turns into an intriguing and deep character study.

The Washington Post: The Peekaboo Paradox

Urban Exploration: Detroit's Beautiful, Horrible Decline

French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre have a photo essay on Time Magazine's website. They explore the formerly magnificent buildings of Detroit that are now abandoned, decaying, and empty. I am always fascinated by the exploration of urban decay, and this is a great example of the haunting images that can be found.

TIME: Detroit's Beautiful, Horrible Decline

Invest in the future, don't bailout the past.

Thomas Friedman hits the nail on the head with this editorial in the New York Times. I wish I had been as clear when I was trying to articulate my opinion on this to a friend the other day.

G.M. has become a giant wealth- destruction machine — possibly the biggest in history — and it is time that it and Chrysler were put into bankruptcy so they can truly start over under new management with new labor agreements and new visions. When it comes to helping companies, precious public money should focus on start-ups, not bailouts.

New York Times: Start Up the Risk-Takers

The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Diamond Heist

WIRED magazine has pre-published an article from its upcoming April 2009 issue documenting the possible story behind the world's largest diamond heist. Much of the story comes from interviews with the ringleader of the heist, so the credibility could be questions, but the story reads like a great heist movie, complete with crazy characters, twists and double-crossing, and foiling a complex security system.

In February 2003, Notarbartolo was arrested for heading a ring of Italian thieves. They were accused of breaking into a vault two floors beneath the Antwerp Diamond Center and making off with at least $100 million worth of loose diamonds, gold, jewelry, and other spoils. The vault was thought to be impenetrable. It was protected by 10 layers of security, including infrared heat detectors, Doppler radar, a magnetic field, a seismic sensor, and a lock with 100 million possible combinations. The robbery was called the heist of the century, and even now the police can't explain exactly how it was done.

WIRED Magazine: The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Diamond Heist

Amnesia

A strange and haunting story in the New York Times about a young woman who suffered a dissociative fugue, a rare form of amnesia that causes people to forget their identity, suddenly and without warning, and can last from a few hours to years.

“I went from going for a run to being in the ambulance,” the woman said several months later in describing her ordeal. “It was like 10 minutes had passed. But it was almost three weeks.”

On Aug. 28, a Thursday, a 23-year-old schoolteacher from Hamilton Heights named Hannah Emily Upp went for a jog along Riverside Drive. That jog is the last thing that Ms. Upp says she remembers before the deckhands rescued her from the waters of New York Harbor on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 16.

Now she has managed to piece together some of what happened during that time, but much of it will forever remain a mystery. A Life, Interrupted.

Eye Candy for News Junkies

I am a total news junky. I like to get my news online, but sometimes there is just no substitute for the real newspaper.

I especially like to see what various papers from around the world are reporting, and have long subscribed to email alerts from many of them. But now I have found a better solution. NEWScan shows the front pages of over a dozen daily newspapers, and the images are big enough that you can read all the headlines. A quick scroll to the right allows you to get a feel for what is front page news around the world. This will be a new part of my daily routine.

(via Kottke)

Give your iPhone feedback to Apple

I continue to be amazed at the incredible volume of people who read my post on The Case for MMS on the iPhone. What started out as a rant has become the most-read entry I have ever posted. Based on the fact that most of the readers of that post are new visitors to my blog (who find it via search engines), it seems there are lots of people who share my frustration.

I continue to get lots of emails and comments from readers who want Apple and AT&T to fix the terrible user experience using MMS on the iPhone in the US. Keep those messages coming! In addition, you can provide your feedback directly to Apple via the iPhone Feedback Form. Tell them too!

The Secret History of Paul Thomas Anderson

Paul Thomas Anderson (IMDB page) is my favorite movie director. Magnolia, Boogie Nights, and Punch Drunk Love all have spots on my list of my ten favorite films.

As part of their feature on the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century, Esquire Magazine profiles Anderson in the article The Secret History of Paul Thomas Anderson by John H. Richardson. Well worth reading if you are a fan of any of his films.