October 27, 2009 by bgierke

OK. Enough. Enough with the peace and quiet. I’m not a girlie man. Back to the blood, guts, and gore. Real thing this time though, with "The Bard’s" representation to boot.

Sunday (October 25) was St Crispin’s Day. It’s named for twins Crispin and Crispinian who were martyred in about 286 AD. They were removed from the liturgical calendar by Vatican II, but they’re not what make the date noteworthy anyway. Several historically important battles have been fought on October 25's: The Battle of Balaklava (The Charge of the Light Brigade) in 1854, The Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Pacific in 1945, and The Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

October 22, 2009 by ggackle

Internet ad measurement firm ZenithOptimedia is predicting online ad spending will grow 9 percent next year at the same time another research firm is reporting the number of web users clicking on display ads has declined by half since 2007.

ZenithOptimedia estimates global ad spending will total $445 billion in 2009, with Internet ads totaling $54 billion, or about 12 percent of the advertising pie. Meanwhile, magazine advertising is forecast to decline nearly 20 percent to $45 billion and newspapers advertising is expected to drop 17 percent to $102 billion.

October 14, 2009 by ggackle

The ability to target advertising has always been a strength of online media. The Google AdWords platform is built on the ability to display those little text ads on search or web pages containing related information. All the better to entice the reader to click on the ads and thus go to a site selling that particular service/product.

The other part of the targeting puzzle has been geographic. For many products and most services, finding a source LOCALLY where you are at the moment is key. Google Maps is an amazing tool for finding local businesses (from restaurants to rental car locations), but the user must help in "targeting" the search by entering his/her location.

October 9, 2009 by bgierke

Ever see the movie Heat? It’s a really great cop versus robber flic with Pacino (cop) and DeNiro (robber). Val Kilmer is a steely with chinks bad guy too. Ashley Judd’s his wife. DeNiro and crew are skilled, astute, and only go after the largest of hauls. Last one eight figures. Movie is wonderful, mesmerizing, in your face violence. In fact, DeNiro demands that his last victim “look at me, LOOK AT ME!” before delivering the revenge fueled coup de grace.

My savor of the gunplay and bloodletting came to mind while reading a bit about the President of Liberia – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – the first female president of an African country. Question: “If women ran the world, would wars still exist?” Answer: “No. It would be a better, safer, and more productive world. A woman would bring an extra dimension to that task – and that’s a sensitivity to humankind. It comes from being a mother.”

Bettendorf Halloween 'Trick or Treating' is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 31 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Thanks to lower fine particulate emissions in 2008, Scott, Muscatine and Rock Island counties Thursday (10/8) avoided a "non-attainment" designation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The EPA recommended last year portions of the three counties be classifed as being in "non-attainment" for particulate emissions of less than 2.5 micrometers, but the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was able to submit newer 2008 emission data which lowered the 3-year average for PM 2.5 below the non-attainment level.

The state and local industry groups had been anticipating the EPA reprieve since March after the 2008 data was submitted in late January.

October 7, 2009 by bgierke

Ever I hear folks arguing vociferously about the ascent of man I think about fathers coming out of the bleachers at little league games. Ridiculous irrationality. Give me a break.

On the one hand, you have folks who believe that an old dude of their own race awaits them in the hereafter. A scary throwback to Old Testament literalism. On the other, well, scientist Stephen Jay Gould once wrote: “Most important scientific revolutions involve the dethronement of human arrogance." How many times have thinkers of one stripe or another claimed to have reached the end?

Myself? I think that the middle ground, if you want to call it that, will be found in relation to consciousness. Significantly, its origin and nature have not yet been discovered. Sure, correlates of mental phenomena have been observed through brain imaging, but there is no consensus about how thoughts actually arise or what constitutes mind (as opposed to a brain).

September 28, 2009 by bgierke

Knee hurts, so instead of running early AM I’ve been riding my bike lately. Trouble is it’s now fall and dark. Oh well – the better… Upon the razor’s edge once again. More juice. Might coast from time to time, but better not drift mentally till sun-up.

Right turn and 50 yards out of my drive I drop down a steep hill. Feel like Batman falling off a lofty ledge Gotham dead of night. Shirt flutters, cool air streams by my face, I use my night vision to search for potholes.

Zoom through intersections and by homes asleep to another steep hill the climbing of which has me off the seat, pounds my heart, and puts me into oxygen debt. Just near the top, a light goes on in house on left. Kitchen. Lady. Uh, sweet!

September 24, 2009 by ggackle

In a stinging rebuke to MidAmerican Energy's opposition to federal "cap and trade" legislation, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has labeled the utility's cost estimates of the proposed carbon reduction bill "inappropriate and greatly inflated."

The Iowa DNR testimony before the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) August 27 points out MidAmerican's cost estimates of the legislation attributes both its wholesale and retail emissions to only its retail customers, thus inflating the cost to Iowa electric customers by more than $125 million.

In coming up with its impact on utility customers, MidAmerican also used a carbon price double what is estimated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Protection (EPA). The numbers cited by MidAmerican also do not reflect allowances provided by the bill for the benefit of low-income customers, the Iowa DNR pointed out.

September 21, 2009 by bgierke

Here is Thomas Eakins’ "The Agnew Clinic." Similar to his picture below, this honors a retiring surgeon also emphasizing his service as an educator. The roiling factor here though is more subversive.

Eakins thought that there was nothing more beautiful than the human body and went to great lengths to provide his students with the benefits of his talents, including once disrobing for a young coed to show a real male body in motion.

On several occasions he allowed mixed gender life drawing classes. Such disregard for the mores of the time brought trouble upon him and he was released from his position. His choice of subject matter in the Agnew Clinic – a partially nude woman undergoing a mastectomy – was his retort.