May Leonard Nimoy's memory live long and prosper

Yesterday, the news came that The Original Spock, Leonard Nimoy, Has Passed Away.  The Know reports.

Leonard Nimoy, who popularized the character of Mr. Spock on the original Star Trek series, has passed away at the age of 83.

That's a very good obituary, but it doesn't capture why the man and his best known role were so important to all the people who posted about his life and death on social media.  For that, I turn to Ben Casselman of FiveThirtyEight's Rest In Peace, Mr. Spock.

[T]he ideals that Spock embodied — that logic can point the way to morality, that evidence is the basis for truth, that curiosity matters more than dogma — were powerful influences that resonate even as the show’s hackneyed plots and on-the-cheap special effects have come to feel dated...

“Star Trek’s” reputation for progressivism is often overstated. Female officers wore short skirts, Captain Kirk was a walking sexual harassment lawsuit and the one black cast member was essentially a glorified telephone operator. Even the show’s famed interracial kiss only happened when both characters were possessed by aliens.

But in its belief in the power of science, Star Trek truly was progressive. Unlike the fundamentally anti-technology “Star Wars,” “Star Trek” was driven by a utopian belief in the power of science and technology to eliminate poverty, end war, cure disease and overcome prejudice. Spock, the Enterprise’s tricorder-toting science officer, was the embodiment of that spirit.
...
In Nimoy’s portrayal, Spock is dispassionate but not cold; his reliance on logic is driven by his belief in its power to do good.

In his eulogy for Spock at the end of the “Wrath of Khan,” Kirk says of his friend: “Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most human.” That’s a message all of us odds-quoting data nerds can get behind.

Here's that eulogy.

Captain Kirk (William Shatner) delivers an emotional eulogy for his friend Spock.

Nimoy has passed, but Spock lives on.

Silly and serious about Net Neutrality

Yesterday, the FCC voted to classify internet service providers as utilities, a big victory for net neutrality.  Meg Turney of The Know gave her refreshingly silly take on the news in Net Neutrality WIN.

Break out the poppers - we're headed in the right direction!

That's the silly.  Follow over the jump for the serious from Vox.

Closure of Northland Mall approved

The signs of collapse and possibly renewal all literally all around me.  Last December, I described how my employer imploded the vacant office tower across the street in Watch this building go boom.  Yesterday, a different kind of collapse happened on the other side of campus, as WXYZ reported Northland Mall in Southfield to close.


This has been a long time coming, but that makes it no less sad.  In the 1990s, Northland Mall was a thriving shopping center.  The department chair took me out to lunch at what was then the Hudson's, now Macy's, in the center of the mall the day she hired me.  During the early 2000s, I mall walked there for exercise and got to see the decline first-hand.  First, the Montgomery Wards closed in 2001 as the company went bankrupt. The location was never filled.  A few years later, J. C. Penny closed its store there.  It was also never replaced.  That meant that two of the center's five anchor spots were vacant for at least a decade.  By this time, the once thriving mall had half of its smaller storefronts vacant as well.   At that point, it was too depressing a location to walk for exercise.  I switched over to Laurel Park Place in Livonia to mall walk.  That was ten years ago.

I've only been back to Northland Mall once this decade, to shop at the Macy's.  That was a few years ago, and the mall was even more vacant, with only the Macy's and the Target remaining as anchors and even fewer small shops than in 2005.  It was depressing.  Macy's apparently thought it was, too, as the chain announced last month that it was closing its Southfield location.  USA Today reported the news with the headline Macy's closing may kill one of first suburban malls.  That's exactly what ended up happening.

Northland Mall closing is also part of a bigger picture.  CNN Money's story One of America's oldest malls is closing not only reports on the news and includes photos of the interior of the mall, but also has a video about abandoned malls and links to other stories about the closing of malls all over the country.  Business Insider paints an even grimmer portrait, declaring America's Shopping Malls Are Dying A Slow, Ugly Death.  That was a year ago.  Based on what happened to Northland Mall, it looks like they're right.

Obama vetoes Keystone XL

I've been pessimistic about prospects for halting the Keystone XL pipeline for four years.  In 2011, I twice wrote that I thought opposing the project was going to be a waste of time.

I've decided that protesting the concept of the Keystone XL pipeline is futile to the point of being less than useless, as the Canadians would just sell the oil to the Chinese, something the video points out. Therefore, opposing the pipeline as a way of slowing down the exploitation of one of the most carbon dioxide emitting ways of getting oil out of the ground is a waste of time. It's going to be extracted one way or another and opposing the pipeline means that China will benefit from it instead of the U.S. Meanwhile, the global commons will still suffer.

I repeated my opinion last year, calling the pipeline "a dumb idea that's going to hurt Americans, and it's still likely to happen."*  Yesterday, I became more optimistic, as Reuters reported Obama vetoes Keystone XL pipeline, leaving it in limbo.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday, as promised, swiftly vetoed a Republican bill approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline, leaving the long-debated project in limbo for another indefinite period.

The U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, after receiving Obama's veto message, immediately countered by announcing the Republican-led chamber would attempt to override it by March 3.

That is unlikely. Despite their majority, Republicans are four votes short of being able to overturn Obama's veto.

I am pleased to write that this is the most read story on Reuters while I type.  Pro or con, people care about this issue.  It's almost enough to get me to post Professor Farnsworth.

Follow over the jump for the footnote.

Paean to the power of poop, a Squirrel Case entry

In his essay The Mariner's Rule, Greer made an aside about his challenge, "daydreaming about the grandiose project that’s certain to save us."  He provided an opening for me that I couldn't pass up.

That reminds me; I have an preliminary entry for your "Great Squirrel Case Challenge of 2015," power from poop.  We can heat cities and provide them with electricity using the methane from sewage supplemented by the waste heat from all the hot water that goes down the drain with every load of dishes and clothes along with every shower and bath.  Of course this is insufficient to the task, as well as actually being practical on a small scale, but my students found it just disgusting enough that it passes the outlandish test.  Of course, if you think it's not grandiose enough, that will save me writing the actual press release.

The Archdruid was encouraging.

Pinku-sensei, it's grandiose enough, and it's also got the benefit of grossness, which is a plus. Write that press release -- or better still, the sycophantic media article.

Deadlines do a wonderful job of concentrating the mind.  Follow over the jump for the fake article.

Two years on, the stock markets are still setting records

Two years ago, I predicted one of two futures after the first time I wrote about a record S&P close.

As for what's coming next, either Thursday's action was the top of the market or it's off to the races, and people on Wall Street know it.

For the past two years, it's been off to the races.  Last Friday, the Reuters headline read Dow, S&P 500 close at record highs on Greece debt deal.

The Dow and S&P 500 ended at record highs on Friday while the Nasdaq notched an eighth straight day of gains after Greek and euro zone finance ministers reached a deal to extend heavily indebted Greece's financial rescue by four months.

The agreement removes the immediate risk of Greece running out of money next month and possibly being forced out of the single currency area.

The Nasdaq matched an eight-session winning streak from a year ago and inched closer to its 5,132.52 all-time intraday high, reached in March 2000 just before the dot-com bubble burst. The S&P 500 ended slightly higher for the week as well, its third straight week of gains.
...
All of the S&P 500 sectors ended in positive territory, except energy, which dipped 0.3 percent. Apple, which hit another record closing high, gave the S&P 500 and Nasdaq their biggest boost.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 154.67 points, or 0.86 percent, to 18,140.44, the S&P 500 gained 12.85 points, or 0.61 percent, to 2,110.3 and the Nasdaq Composite added 31.27 points, or 0.63 percent, to 4,955.97.

For the week, the Dow was up 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 was up 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq was up 1.3 percent.

The NASDAQ has less than 200 points until all three stock indexes have recovered for their previous highs.  Too bad I didn't get in the market back in 2009.  Of course, as pessimistic as I have been the past two years, I probably would have gotten out by now.  Speaking of which, I wrote about someone I was sure would get out of the market soon when the S&P 500 first hit a post-recession high two years ago.  Continue over the jump for my follow-up to that prediction.

ABC and CNN on Oscar predictions and controversies

As I promised last week and yesterday, I'm covering the Oscars for today's entertainment entry.  I begin by getting the predictions and controversies about the major awards out of the way first, starting with ABC News answering its own question, Who Will Win On Oscar Sunday?

Hollywood expert Grae Drake has her picks for Sunday’s Academy Awards.

Of all the films mentioned, only "Birdman," a work of magical realism, qualifies as science fiction or fantasy.  Two others, "The Imitation Game" and "The Theory of Everything," are historical films about scientists.  Both of them figure in CNN's Oscar nominees blur the line between fact and fiction.

As Stephanie Elam reports, some Oscar-nominated films based on true stories have strayed from the facts.

If a viewer wants historical accuracy more than artistic truth, watch documentaries instead of historical dramas.  That's what they're for.

Stay tuned for how the documentaries and other movies for nerds and geeks along with movie music fared in tonight's awards in a follow-up, much like I did last year.

Razzies and Robocop

I promised that I'd write about the Oscars tomorrow at the end of 'Fifty Shades of Grey' tops weekend box office, whips up controversy and I still plan to.  However, the Academy Awards aren't the only film awards this weekend.  Tonight are the Golden Raspberry Awards AKA the Razzies.  For my readers who didn't see last year's Science fiction and fantasy at the Razzies, CNN answers the first question they might have in What's a Razzie?

Find out what films were nominated as the worst of the worst for this years Golden Raspberry Awards. CNN's Lisa France breaks down The Razzies.

Of all the films mentioned, I've written about only one, "Annie," which had a song nominated for a Golden Globe but not for an Oscar.  Also, only one of them was a science fiction or fantasy movie, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."  Both of them are up for Worst Remake, Sequel, or Rip-off, along with The Legend of Hercules, Atlas Shrugged 3: Who is John Galt?, and Transformers 4: Age of Extinction, all of which are fantasy or science fiction movies.  Three of the four sci-fi/fantasy nominees in this category also receive honorable mentions for my having written about either the movie itself, a prequel in the series, or a nominated performer in the film.  Follow over the jump for what I have to say about them along with a bonus feature about the Robocop musical.  Yes, there is such a thing.

More suburbs should ride the SMART bus

I added my opinion of "The Walking Man's" plight to conclude James Robertson ABC's Person of the Week.*

I found this a heartwarming story of human persistance and empathy leading to a success of charity, but I also found it illustrated the failure of mass transit in metro Detroit, where more than half of the jobs are beyond the reach of public transit, including Robertson's.  As a believer in public transportation who worked on the subway in Los Angeles, expanding and improving service for public transportation here is something for which I'll advocate.

I wasn't alone in thinking this way.   Yesterday, the head of SMART finally took the oppoturnity to advocate for the bus system.  WXYZ reported the announcement in SMART Bus system asking more communities to get on board.

The SMART Bus system is asking more communities to get on board and use the busses in the wake of James Robertson's story.

The Detroit Free Press also covered the announcement and read the letter sent to mayors and other municipal leaders.  They thought that it wasn't strong enough.  Here's the newspaper's recommended version from its editorial Support for transit? Not with this letter.

Dear elected official,

By now, you've probably heard the story of James Robertson, the Detroiter who walks 21 miles to and from work. If you were moved by his plight, here's something you might like to know: If your community opted out of the SMART's regional bus service, there are people walking to work in your own community.

It's a terrible situation — for the commuters who are walking, for the business owners who must depend on a challenged system to reliably transport employees to work, and for our growth and prosperity as a region.

So let's do something about it. Your community opted out of SMART years ago, but you can opt in. SMART has a team of experts on staff that can examine your transit needs, make a plan, and get your constituents on board.

Let's talk.

Indeed.

Speaking of the recipients of the original letter, two of the municipalities that WXYZ mentioned, Canton Township and the City of Livonia, are ones I've repeatedly pointed out to my students as non-participants in SMART, ones that leave a noticeable gap in the service area.  I know they have their reasons, but I think they are stupid, out-of-date, and shameful in addition to being anti-sustainability.  Here's to hoping that they get on board the SMART bus.

Follow over the jump for the footnote.

Happy Year of the Wood Sheep!

That's the greeting I used to open my comment on What Progress Means at The Archdruid Report, and Greer responded with a hearty "Pinku-sensei, and gong hay fat choy to you as well."  I count that as an auspicious start to the new Lunar Year.  Even more auspicious is that the Sheep is as close to my family name as any animal in the Chinese Zodiac gets.  I may be born in the year of the Earth Pig, but I like the idea of the Year of the Sheep.

Last year and the years before, I've posted generic Chinese New Years greetings, such as the one Greer used, which is Cantonese.  This year, I present The Year of The Sheep in Chinese Zodiac - 2015, which teaches how to say greetings special for this year.

2015 is the year of the sheep.Do you know what to say to Chinese people during Chinese New Year. Watch the video to learn more. Chinese people like to specify lucky phrases that capture the year of the zodiac.

喜气洋洋 filled with happiness (洋 is the original Chinese character, people change it to the word 羊 just for the year of sheep)
一羊生金 a sheep makes you wealthy
二羊为宝 two sheep brings you treasure
三 羊开泰 full of luck for the year's beginning (阳is the original Chinese character, people change it to the word 羊 just for the year of sheep)

Now for the generic greetings.

Mandarin: Gong Xi Fa Cai/Xin Nian Kuai Le

Cantonese: Kung Hei Fat Choi

Hokkien (Fujian/Taiwanese): Kiong Hee Huat Tsai/Sin Ni khòai lok

Simplified Chinese: 恭喜发财 新年快乐

Traditional Chinese: 恭喜發財 新年快樂

Corner station retreats after two Tuesdays in No Man's Land

It looks like my gas price updates will be on Wednesdays instead of Fridays or Saturdays this year, as I once again passed though my old neighborhood on a Tuesday.  That's a new habit for the new year.

Prices seem to have stabilized since I posted Gas rises as oil stalls.  Last week, the corner station was still much more expensive than the rest.

When I returned to my old neighborhood yesterday, the three stations down the street were all selling regular for $2.15, while it seems the corner station was again camped out in No Man's Land at $2.39.

The week before, the situation was even more unsettled.

The corner station was selling regular for $2.35, while two of the stations down the street were still at $1.89 and one had raised its price to $2.29.

Yesterday, all the stations were selling regular at $2.15, including the one at the corner.  It's so boring it's remarkable.

I made another observation based on what I saw at GasBuddy.

That written, all the stations in my old neighborhood appear to be overpriced, the corner station especially so.  The Detroit average is $2.21, so the stations could be as low as $2.11 based on their price history of selling regular a dime below that.  I guess they're making up for being way underpriced last week as well as anticipating price rises in the near future.  If such happens, they would like be the result of seasonal factors as both the Detroit and national averages have risen from $2.17 to $2.21 this week, not increases in the price of oil.

The stations apparently were anticipating future price increases--or were just lucky--and are now exactly where they should be as the Detroit average is now $2.15.  Again, so boring as to be worth noting.

I have one last item to dispense with.

Last week, WTI hit a high of $53.05, while Brent peaked even higher at $57.91.  Both futures fell the next day, WTI to below $50 and Brent below $55.  Both climbed, but either failed to match the previous high (WTI) or just barely exceeded it (Brent) before falling again yesterday.  At the close, WTI was at $50.02 while Brent was at $56.43.  It's time to see if the prices consolidate in the $50-$55 and $55-$60 price bands before rising again.

That's exactly what happened, as Oil-Price.Net shows that prices for both futures did exactly that last week.  I observed as much in response to Kunstler in Welcome to World War Three on Monday.

Kunstler: Partly what you’re seeing over there is an internal fight to control what’s left of the treasure. That battle has already had the strange consequence of disabling the oil production capacity in places like Iraq and Libya, where there is still a lot of oil, but not enough political stability to allow the complicated business of extraction and transport to take place.

Me: Unlike 2011, when the Arab Spring caused oil prices to shoot up over $100/barrel for the first time since the Great Recession began, the current instability hasn't done much.  In fact, the story seems to be gas rises as oil stalls.  I just checked Oil-Price.net and oil has been bumping up against ceilings below $55 for WTI and $60 for Brent.  So far, the markets seem unconcerned, although you may be right that they should be.

Right after that, both futures broke through the ceilings I listed, with WTI closing at $53.53 Tuesday along with Brent at $62.53.  Expect gas to resume rising because of higher oil prices and other factors as described by Headline News (HLN) on YouTube, which answers its own question, What's driving up those low gas prices?

It seems like just yesterday that gas prices were under $2 a gallon nationwide. But lately they've been slowly edging up. The question is why, and how much higher will they go. CNN Money's Cristina Alesci broke it all down for us.

Yep, higher oil prices, seasonal factors, and a strike, which might depress oil prices while driving up gas and diesel.

Paczki Day 2015

Happy Fat Tuesday!  In New Orleans, that means Mardi Gras, but here in Michigan, it's Paczki Day!

WXYZ reports on this year's preparations in Getting ready for Paczki Day.


Andy does get a lot of fun location assigments.  Follow over the jump to see him in the studio to co-anchor a story about paczki on Sunday.

Happy Presidents Day!

I concluded Evolution humor for Darwin Day by noting an amazing coincidence on the calendar.

This is the first of a string of holidays and special days.  Tomorrow is Friday the 13th.  Saturday is Valentine's Day.  Tuesday is Paczki Day.  Next Thursday is Chinese New Year.  Add in Sunday, when I post entertainment entries, and there will be very little DOOM this entire week.  Enjoy yourselves while it lasts, folks!

I forgot that today is Presidents Day.  I suppose I could post something about what our current president is doing to either cause, postpone, or prevent collapse, but I'm still not in an "all DOOM all the time" mood.  Instead, I'll post the following visual greeting.

'Fifty Shades of Grey' tops weekend box office, whips up controversy

I concluded yesterday's science of Valentines Day entry by promising that today's "Sunday entertainment entry will also celebrate today, as I plan on covering 'Fifty Shades of Grey.'"  I have both commerce and controversy to report, commerce above the jump and controversy below.

WXYZ set the stage on Friday with "Fifty Shades of Grey" in theaters.

The controversial movie based on the book "Fifty Shades of Grey" is in theaters, and metro Detroiters are packing them to see it.

The theaters were expecting a lot of business, and they got it.  The movie broke records on Friday, as USA Today reported 'Fifty Shades of Grey' whips up $30 million.

Fifty Shades of Grey opened Friday with a bang — an impressive $30.2 million haul, according to studio estimates.

The book adaptation of E.L. James' best-selling novel took in $8.6 million from late screenings Thursday, the first official glimpse that paying fans have had for the long-awaited film.
...
Fifty Shades of Grey is already in the record books. According to Rentrak, the film has already posted the biggest opening day for any film released in February (beating The Passion of the Christ and its first day gross of $26.6 million in 2004).

Estimates for the opening weekend domestic box office ranged from $69 million to $100 million, but were mostly in the $75-80 million range.  So far, it looks like the movie will meet all but the most optimistic of them, as Variety posted Box Office: ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Explodes With Record-Breaking $81.7 Million this morning.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” sizzled at the box office, setting new records for the highest grossing Presidents Day Weekend opener of all time and ranking among the biggest R-rated debuts in history.

The erotic drama performed like a comic book movie, albeit one with much naughtier costumes, picking up $81.7 million from 3,646 locations over the three-day period. That easily trumped the holiday’s previous record-holder, the 2010 debut of the romantic comedy “Valentine’s Day,” which kicked off with $56.3 million.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” will do more than $90 million over the four-day holiday, in addition to triggering a massive increase in heart palpitations across the moviegoing public. Among the many high-water marks the saucy tale has hit, the film’s debut is the second-biggest in February history behind “The Passion of the Christ” and the fourth-biggest R-rated premiere, trailing “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Hangover: Part II” and Mel Gibson’s aforementioned crucifixion tale.

At least “The Matrix Reloaded” is safe this weekend, although its gross might get beaten eventually.*

Speaking of "safe" and "beaten," follow over the jump for the controversy.

Valentines Day science: online dating

Happy Valentines Day!  To mark the day, I present the latest research from the University of Michigan about online dating, Mining big data for Cupid's arrows.

ANN ARBOR-Online dating has revolutionized the way people look for love.

About a third of all people who were single at some point in the last 10 years have used dating websites, and a quarter of those have married or entered long-term relationships.

My wife and I are among those people.  We didn't meet at an online dating site, but we ran into each other later at one and that was a critical factor in our getting together.

Back to the study.

University of Michigan research breaks new ground on how people make romantic choices by analyzing troves of data from a major online dating site.

Perhaps it's fitting that the first step to unraveling how people screen options, think and act when looking for romance online comes from a marriage of sorts between marketing and sociology.

For the key findings, watch the video, Deal-Makers and Deal-Breakers in Online Dating.

University of Michigan research breaks new ground on how people make romantic choices by analyzing troves of data from a major online dating site.

This research attracted the attention of WXYZ, which interviewed one of the researchers for University of Michigan online dating study.


The bottom line is that a profile must include a photo to get attention.  For specifics about making a photo more attractive and other online dating tips, read Data can tell you how to up your online dating game at Vox.  That article includes findings from a whole range of sources, not just the University of Michigan study.

The Sunday entertainment entry will also celebrate today, as I plan on covering "Fifty Shades of Grey."

Once again, Happy Valentines Day!

History lesson and drink recipe for Friday the 13th

Welcome to the first of three Friday the 13ths this year!*  To mark the occasion, I present both a quick history lesson and a funny drink recipe.

First, the history lesson from Life Noggin, which answers the question Why Is Friday The 13th Unlucky?


Follow over the fold for the drink recipe, which is not from Tipsy Bartender--for once!

Evolution humor for Darwin Day

Happy Darwin Day 2015!

For previous years, click on 2012, 2013, and 2014.

This is the first of a string of holidays and special days.  Tomorrow is Friday the 13th.  Saturday is Valentine's Day.  Tuesday is Paczki Day.  Next Thursday is Chinese New Year.  Add in Sunday, when I post entertainment entries, and there will be very little DOOM this entire week.  Enjoy yourselves while it lasts, folks!

Gas rises as oil stalls

Here's what I reported in Gas and oil accelerate their price rise last week.

The corner station was selling regular for $2.35, while two of the stations down the street were still at $1.89 and one had raised its price to $2.29.  I saw the price at the corner station and immediately turned around and filled up the car at one of the stations selling regular for the same price as last week.

Based on what I saw on GasBuddy and Oil-Price.Net, that was probably a smart thing to do.   The average price for regular in Detroit is $2.12, 18 cents higher than it was last week.  That means that the four stations in my old neighborhood should be $2.02.  Furthermore, RBOB is now trading at $1.60, 15 cents higher than last week.  That $1.89 I bought gas at will not last the week.

It didn't.  When I returned to my old neighborhood yesterday, the three stations down the street were all selling regular for $2.15, while it seems the corner station was again camped out in No Man's Land at $2.39.  I was driving Dez instead of Ruby this time, but I had the same reaction--fill up the car at one of the cheaper stations when I had the chance.

That written, all the stations in my old neighborhood appear to be overpriced, the corner station especially so.  The Detroit average is $2.21, so the stations could be as low as $2.11 based on their price history of selling regular a dime below that.  I guess they're making up for being way underpriced last week as well as anticipating price rises in the near future.  If such happens, they would like be the result of seasonal factors as both the Detroit and national averages have risen from $2.17 to $2.21 this week, not increases in the price of oil.

Last week, WTI hit a high of $53.05, while Brent peaked even higher at $57.91.  Both futures fell the next day, WTI to below $50 and Brent below $55.  Both climbed, but either failed to match the previous high (WTI) or just barely exceeded it (Brent) before falling again yesterday.  At the close, WTI was at $50.02 while Brent was at $56.43.  It's time to see if the prices consolidate in the $50-$55 and $55-$60 price bands before rising again.

Sweet things to make for Valentines Day

I began the month by observing that I didn't have to take February's NABLOPOMO of MAKE so seriously.

I can get away with posting recipes from Tipsy Bartender.  That's a relief.

With Valentines Day this coming Saturday, it looks like a good time to start, but not with Tipsy Bartender.  Instead, I begin with WXYZ's demonstration of a Simple dessert for Valentine's Day.


For the recipe, click here.

I've always enjoyed bread pudding and am glad to have a recipe, but I'm going to let Willy Wonka express my opinion of the effectiveness of this recipe.


Follow over the jump for today's video recipe from Tipsy Bartender.

Driving update for February 2015: Dez

I concluded Zombies and Grammys by telling my readers "Stay tuned for the driving update.  Dez the new car should turn over 45,000 miles tomorrow."  It's tomorrow, so it's time for the update.

Dez's odometer currently stands at 44,998.  I'll get the two miles on the way to work today.  That means it will have been 86 days since Dez passed 44,000 miles on Saturday, November 15th for an average of 11.63 miles/day or 354.7 miles/month.  At least that's less than the average of 12.5 miles/day or 381.25 miles/month for the 600 miles my wife and I drove the car between our purchase of it and when it passed 44,000 miles.  At least the miles driven on Dez decreased since the last update, although it's markedly more than the 7.14 miles/day and 217.9 miles/month for Ruby during the comparable period a year earlier.  It seems my prediction for driving is already coming true.

I expect our miles will go up, as the new neighborhood is not as walkable and the location is farther away from one of my worksites although about the same distance from the other, while the commute is much quicker.

I already got preliminary confirmation of this in last month's driving update.

The total for all cars over 101 days since Ruby's last update is then 2274.5 miles for an average of 22.52 miles/day and 686.86 miles/month.  That's a lot more than the  19.1 miles/day and 581.7 miles/month for the previous cumulative update on December 28, 2013, 3.4 miles/day and 105 miles/month more in fact.  As I expected, my wife and I drove a lot more year-over-year because of a new car and all the driving required in looking for and buying a house, then moving.  I expect we'll drive even more because of the car-dependent neighborhood.

I'll wait until both cars turn over their odometers again to calculate the cumulative mileage for the next confirmation of the trend.

Speaking of trends, it looks like my wife and I are contributing to a greater one, as Calculated Risk reported last month Vehicle Miles Driven increased 1.1% year-over-year in November, Nearing All Time High.  Here's the graph.


At this rate, Bill McBride of Calculated Risk thinks the U.S. might set a new high this year.  We'll see.

Zombies and Grammys

I concluded James Robertson ABC's Person of the Week with the following program note.

Stay tuned for a driving update and the Sunday entertainment entry.  Tomorrow's likely topic, Grammys and zombies.  "The Walking Dead" returns!

Yes, both the Grammy Awards and the first episode of the second half of "The Walking Dead" happen tonight, making for an unlikely juxtaposition.  First, the zombies, as Kyle Hill of Nerdist explains the science behind the zombie virus in "The Walking Dead" in two videos beginning with How Does THE WALKING DEAD Zombie Virus Work? (Because Science w/ Kyle Hill).

THE WALKING DEAD: arguably one of the most popular zombie stories of the generation. But if everyone in TWD already has the virus according to the end of season 1, exactly WHAT is doing the killing? Nerdist Science Editor Kyle Hill delves into it on Because Science.

So Komodo Dragons actually are venomous.  That's worth knowing.

Next, the epidemiology of the zombie virus in How Fast Will ZOMBIES Take Over The World? (Because Science w/ Kyle Hill).

Just how dangerous would a zombie epidemic be? How fast will we get screwed when they eventually take over the world, and can we stop them?! Find out on Because Science with Kyle Hill.

Three days before zombies outnumber living humans?  No wonder things went south so quickly.

Also, I'm glad he mentioned how fast measles spread.  That shows how dangerous the current measles outbreak could become.

Follow over the jump for my thoughts on the Grammy Awards for music accompanying visual media.

James Robertson ABC's Person of the Week

I've been so busy with other stories that by the time I got around to writing about James Robertson, the Detroit man who walked 21 miles each day to his job in the suburbs in addition to taking public transportation out to the end of service, it came to a happy ending.  ABC News tells the tale in James Robertson Walks 21 Miles Each Way to His Job in Detroit .

Through the kindness of others, Robertson gets a new car so he can drive to work.

I found this a heartwarming story of human persistence and empathy leading to a success of charity, but I also found it illustrated the failure of mass transit in metro Detroit, where more than half of the jobs are beyond the reach of public transit, including Robertson's.  As a believer in public transportation who worked on the subway in Los Angeles, expanding and improving service for public transportation here is something for which I'll advocate.

Stay tuned for a driving update and the Sunday entertainment entry.  Tomorrow's likely topic, Grammys and zombies.  "The Walking Dead" returns!

First Examiner.com article of 2015: 2014 election stories in review

Of the five most popular Washtenaw County election articles on Facebook last year, three were about underdogs.  Number one among them was a report about Chris Wahmhoff, Green Party nominee for U.S. Senate.

Top elections stories of 2014 about underdogs, endorsements, millages

With 2015 already into its second month, it is well past time to look at the top Washtenaw County election stories of 2014 before moving on to this year's election news.  Based on the number of Facebook shares and likes, five stories stood out, the top three of which shared a common theme, underdogs in last year's general election.

The other two were about favorites.  One was about the candidates endorsed by Detroit's major daily newspapers, while the other was about a millage proposal.  Both the endorsees and the millage proposal went on to crushing wins.
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If there is a take-home message from last year's top stories, it is that popularity on Facebook does not necessarily translate to success at the ballot box. That's a good lesson to take into 2015.

More on each of the top stories, plus a slideshow and a photo of Jill Stein announcing for 2016, at the link.

I was days away from losing my ability to publish on Examiner.com.  I feel relieved that I managed to publish an article and retain my position.

'Selva Verde': Video and blog link

I've had two requests from my students this semester.  First, do I blog about "Selva Verde: The Green Jungle" here the way I blog about "The End of Suburbia," "Food, Inc.," and "An Inconvenient Truth?"  Second, do I know of any uploads of the video to YouTube?  Until recently, the answer to both was no.  Now, it's yes.

I have one entry about "Selva Verde," This week's topics: models and species interactions from a year ago today, which shows videos related to the sloth-algae-moth symbiosis and to jaguar predation.  I haven't even posted the worksheet, although I'm working on it (not today, but stay tuned).

As for the YouTube upload, my students and I have looked.   Only last October did the PBS show Nature upload a copy of the show to its own YouTube channel: Selva Verde: The Green Jungle (1985).

Selva Verde: The Green Jungle | Season 4 | Episode 5 | November 17, 1985 | Narrated by George Page

Wildlife in the massive Central American rain forest stretching across parts of Belize, Costa Rica and Panama. Observed: three-toed sloths, army ants and a jaguar.

Most of the film is just a nature documentary, but the last few minutes is appropriately doomy enough for this blog.  Fortunately, things have not turned out as badly as people thought 30 years ago--so far.

Conversations on the 2013 Super Bowl Blackout with Chad of the Hipcrime Vocab

For Throwback Thursday, I'm going to post something I should have posted two years ago, a conversation in comments between me and Chad/escapefromwisconsin of The Hipcrime Vocab.  It began when I left the following comment at his entry Are you ready for no football?

I hope my post Hipcrime Vocab on the Super Bowl brings you traffic!

Also, if you were watching the game, I bet you found the power outage during the third quarter symbolic.

Chad didn't respond to me at his blog.  He responded at mine.  Follow over the jump for it and my reply and reaction, along with his comment on Predictions vs. reality for Katy Perry at the Super Bowl.

Apocalypse When?

Full-sized infographic at the BBC.  Hat/tip to Chad at The Hipcrime Vocab.

Gas and oil accelerate their price rise

I made the following prediction to close the opening paragraph of Gas begins its seasonal rise as predicted.

Sure enough, when I drove through my old neighborhood yesterday,* the corner station was holding its position at $1.99.  No ignominious retreat there.  Meanwhile the three stations down the street were all selling regular for $1.89.  That's actually higher than I expected.  In fact, when I checked GasBuddy yesterday, the Detroit average was $1.94, where it stands today.  It's actually a few cents too high; the $1.85 I predicted would have been more in line with the local price environment.  Just the same, I don't expect those three stations to lower their price, although the old corner station will probably match them by the end of the week.

I didn't return to my old neighborhood until yesterday, so I don't know if the corner station ever matched the rest at $1.89.  Based on what I saw, I doubt it.  The corner station was selling regular for $2.35, while two of the stations down the street were still at $1.89 and one had raised its price to $2.29.  I saw the price at the corner station and immediately turned around and filled up the car at one of the stations selling regular for the same price as last week.

Based on what I saw on GasBuddy and Oil-Price.Net, that was probably a smart thing to do.   The average price for regular in Detroit is $2.12, 18 cents higher than it was last week.  That means that the four stations in my old neighborhood should be $2.02.  Furthermore, RBOB is now trading at $1.60, 15 cents higher than last week.  That $1.89 I bought gas at will not last the week.

As for oil, both major futures are trading up.  WTI closed yesterday at $53.05, while Brent climbed even higher to $57.91.  The pressure is on for gasoline to keep rising.  Also, it looks like King Abdullah's death finally got oil to move, too.

I'm not the only one watching oil and gas prices.  New Deal Democrat posted US gas prices have (probably) bottomed on Monday.  Not only has he called last week's lows in oil and gas the bottom for this cycle, he pointed out that U.S. demand for gasoline is up 8% year over year right now.  Supply and demand at work!

Monthly meta 2: top ten entries for January 2015

I wasn't done reporting the monthly meta when I wrote about the blog passing 400,000 page views.  Every month during the past year, I've posted the ten most viewed entries of the month at this blog's Facebook page.  That's a habit I've decided to transfer over to the blog.  It's also a modified revival of the weekly summaries I did during the first year of the blog, a habit worth resuming.

Follow over the jump for a countdown of this month's top ten.

Monthly meta: 400,000 page views

Today, this blog passed 400,000 total page views.   I missed posting when the blog passed 300,000 page views on May 25th, eight months and one week ago.  I did document the previous milestone of passing 200,000 page views in Hottest month so far on Crazy Eddie's Motie News on August 31, 2013, eight months and three weeks before that.  At least my blog is still increasing its rate of earning page views, although not as quickly as it did between November 2012 and August 2013, when it took nine months and three weeks to go from 100,000 page views to 200,000.  At this pace, this blog should pass 500,000 page views within a few days of Halloween this year.  As long as every month has more page views than the same month a year earlier, that should be no problem.  So far, that's always been the case.

Speaking of which, January 2015 had 11,721 page views, 621 more than the 11,050 during January of last year.  For February 2015, I have to get at least 10,169 page views to be up month over month from last February.  I'm shooting for 10,192, an average of 364 per day.  Stay tuned and wish me luck.

Snowfall of the century for Detroit on Groundhog Day

I concluded Winter Storm Linus set to blanket Detroit by observing about the storm "if it lasts as long, snows as much, and gets as cold as the current forecast predicts, I doubt I'll be going to work on Monday."  Sure enough, I'm home from work today.  As for Winter Storm Linus, it was even worse than forecast, as the Detroit Free Press reported an hour ago in Metro Detroit digs out from area's 3rd-biggest snowstorm.

The third-biggest snowstorm in metro Detroit's recorded history has plows humming among tall snow piles on roadways across southeastern Michigan this morning.

Most metro-area schools and colleges are closed, including Wayne State University, University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University.

By 9 a.m., the storm had cleared, leaving blue skies with bitter cold. Temperatures have already peaked at about 18 degrees and are to stick in the mid-teens this morning, said meteorologist Cory Behnke with the National Weather Service.

With 16.7 inches of snow since the storm arrived early Sunday, it's the most to fall since Dec. 1 and 2 in 1974, when 19.3 inches fell, as recorded at Detroit Metro Airport. The snowiest was April 6, 1886, when 24.5 inches were reported, Behnke said. The records date to 1880.

Detroit was not alone, as NBC News reported.

O'Hare reported 19.3 inches of snow from the storm, making it the fifth-heaviest on record there. Detroit reported 16.7 inches, the third-highest on record and the most since 1974. Detroit and Milwaukee both set single-day snowfall records on Sunday.
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New York is expecting 3 to 5 inches of snow by the end of Monday, while Boston should see 8 to 12, Roth said - but that was harder to predict.

That's quite some blanket, Linus!

Predictions vs. reality for Katy Perry at the Super Bowl

I concluded NABLOPOMO for February: MAKE by telling my readers to "stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment entry, which will most likely be about the Super Bowl."  I was planning on posting it earlier, but my wife and I were having too good a time watching "Gone Girl," which has an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a leading role, for me to post before the game.*  I then was having too good a time watching the game itself to post during it.  Good thing, as I would have made a fool of myself trying to guess Katy Perry's set list, which I decided would be my topic for tonight.  That written, it didn't stop a bunch of people from trying.  First, WXYZ actually included her songs among the Super bowl prop bets on the 7 Sports Cave.


The guy who said she'd open with "Roar" and end with "Firework" was right on.  "Dark Horse" also made the set list as the second song.  That placed them even or ahead of the people at Bleacher Report, who called those three songs but got the rest wrong.  Fansided didn't do much better, listing seven songs but only getting one more, "Teenage Dream," for their troubles.  I think the problem was that no one was thinking about what the other artists would perform, concentrating only on Perry.  The result was this set list from Sports Illustrated.

"Roar"
"Dark Horse"
"I Kissed a Girl" featuring Lenny Kravitz
"Teenage Dream"
"California Gurls"
"Get Ur Freak On" by Missy Elliott
"Work It" by Missy Elliott
"Lose Control" by Missy Elliott
"Firework"

No wonder the prognositicators were off.

For what it's worth, I enjoyed the halftime show, even if it was empty commercial spectacle.  Hey, I can't be all DOOM all the time.

*That movie fits the theme of crime among the nominees.  I'll have more on that and the other nominees on a Sunday later this month.

NABLOPOMO for February: MAKE

From the website only this month.*

So what is the NaBloPoMo theme of the month?

MAKE
The BlogHer community is a creative bunch. I've made your recipes, tried your craft tutorials, and even bookmarked a DIY post on renovating your bathroom. I'm going to get to that project one day.

This month we want to celebrate you and your creativity. Hopefully by writing about projects gone right (or even... er... wrong) you'll be inspired to roll up your sleeves and try something new. Support a food blogger by trying out her recipe and leaving a comment about your experience. Buy something handmade on Etsy. Or think about something that you know how to do well and whip up a tutorial that other people can follow.

The point is to get your hands dirty, try something new, and write about the experience. So take a deep breath, plug in the glue gun, and let's make something.

I'm ambivalent about this theme.  On the one hand, this blog is about how to survive or delay collapse, which means it should be about practical things as much as ideas.  That's been difficult for me, as I'm about ideas, so I've been working mostly on awareness and knowledge instead of skills and action.  On the other, the prompts for this month work better for me than I expected, as they explore whether the blogger is a DIY person (not for anything big) or someone who hires others (generally yes), ask if the blogger has seen stuff being made (Maker Faires and 3D Printing, for example), and ask if the blogger cooks (yes).  I certainly do cook and have posted recipes here, so I think I'm OK.  Besides, there's always this out.

NaBloPoMo is what you make of it. At its core, all you need to do is post daily on your blog. The point of NaBloPoMo is not to be restricted by the theme, but instead to either take it or leave it. If you'll do better blogging every day based on what's happening in your world, throw aside the daily prompts.

This means that if I don't feel like posting about building chicken coops, planting home gardens, installing solar power, or influencing local government to allow a homeowner to do such things, I don't have to.  It also means I can get away with posting recipes from Tipsy Bartender.  That's a relief.

Sign up for February's NaBloPoMo and make something.

I already did and at least plan on making some noise.  Speaking of noise, stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment entry, which will most likely be about the Super Bowl.

*I lost access to the email where Nablopomo sends its notices.  I might explain later.