November 2, 2009 by bgierke

While driving across our beautiful state earlier this week, obsessing about problems and desperate for creative insight, I turned on the radio. Iowa Public Radio, to be precise, and a program about lucid dreaming*. That’s when you’re in a dream and know it. There's even such a thing as dream yoga in which adepts reportedly develop remarkable facility.

The discussion also recounted a wide range of dream research and anecdotes. Abraham Lincoln had a dream premonition of his assassination shortly before the tragic event. Sting and Johnny Cash, to name but two, have had songs come to them in dreams.

Solutions to important math problems have appeared in dreams. Or moments after a sunrise awakening. (Which brings to mind the incredible underpinning mathematics seems to provide our universe. Hmm, brains certainly aren’t rectilinear…)

October 29, 2009 by ggackle

An "Alternative Compliance Program" developed by MidAmerican Energy in response to proposed "cap and trade" greenhouse gas legislation has received a critical assessment from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

The state's largest electric utility has been a leading critic of the "cap and trade" legislation under debate in Congress, and it submitted a white paper Oct. 13 outlining an "alternative compliance program" to the Iowa Utilities Board. The filing was part of the utilities board inquiry into the impact of the proposed American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, the federal "cap and trade" legislation.

Under MidAmerican's alternative, the states would be allowed to opt out of the federal "cap and trade" plan, and non-compliance penalties for not meeting air quality caps would fall first on the state.

For additional Crow Creek Park images, view slideshow at bottom of page.

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).