Mount Everst

So I was reading about Mount Everest today because, umm...I can, and apparently we still don't know "for sure" how tall it is. Right now our best guess is somewhere between 29,017 and 29,035 feet above sea level.

I know, sounds crazy to me too. You would think with all of the technology, modern survey equipment, GPS, computers, etc., you would think that we could measure something that we can actually walk up. But apparently there are disagreements to as where and what is the highest point. Some people include the snow/ice cap, some don't. I would argue that the snow and ice should not count, as it can fluctuate.

Some guy in 1999 did the logical thing and attached a GPS to the bedrock and obtained a height of 29,035 feet. You would think that would close the door on the issue, but apparently it didn't. In 2005 another survey team claims they took the most accurate measurement ever coming in at 29,017 feet. People protest both of these measurements claiming uncertainties in the geoid (essentially, where the average sea level is) that was used. I guess if you don't know where sea level is, then it's probably pretty hard to figure out how far away from it you are!

From what I could find, Nepal says the official height right now is 29,029 feet. However, the measurement from 1999 of 29,035 feet is widely quoted as well, but is not yet officially recognized by the Nepali government.

Feel Good Story Of The Day

Check it out...I bet you will like it:

http://sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/basketball/boys/news/story?id=3914375&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

NBA All Star Weekend

On Saturday, Emily and I went to downtown Phoenix to see what all the hoopla was all about. Typically, I think I would avoid such a crazy event...well, maybe not. Anyways, it actually ended up being pretty entertaining.

We started off by walking a mile from Emily's apartment down to the light rail station. You wouldn't think a mile is very far to walk, but even with it only being about 60 degrees out it got fairly warm. Now I see why people bike. But once we got to the station, the credit/debit card reader was broken; so after some rig-a-ma-roll, I finally got some cash. Buying our tickets was pretty painless after that. It was only $5 for two all day passes. (I hear the fares are probably going up soon though!) FYI...the change you get back from the ticket machines comes to you in dollar coins. So keep that in mind when using a larger bill. I now have fifteen $1 coins! Which isn't that big of a deal I suppose...just unexpected. Hopefully the card reader won't be broken next time!

Anyways, once we got on it was a quick trip to downtown; maybe five minutes. Once down there, it was totally obvious that it was worth taking the light rail, cause it was crazy downtown. Plus, parking was like $15 bucks.

The rest of the afternoon/evening consisted of walking around, people watching, and dinner at Majerle's Sports Grill. I don't normally care much for "celebrity watching", I mean, they're just people. But, being a sports fan, it was pretty cool to see some of the NBA stars and athletes out-n-about. Just to drop a few names, we saw:

• Amare Stoudemire & Nate Robinson - They were holding a press conference of some sort Outside of Stoudemire's restaurant which is across from the arena. Nate Robinson won the dunk contest later that night.
  
• Terrell Owens - a.k.a. "T.O." NFL football player.
  
• Darryl Dawkins - Older NBA player from the late 70's & 80's.
  
• Bob Elliot - Famous for Emily at least :) Haha, ok not true. Apparently I'm out of the loop, cause lots of people were getting his autograph and picture. Guess it's a U of A thing!
  
• Hubert Davis - Former NBA player. More famous for currently being an ESPN college basketball analyst/comentator.
  
• Clyde Drexler - a.k.a., Clyde "The Glide" Drexler. Played in the 80's & 90's. One of the all time greats.
  
• Dominique Wilkins - Played in the 80's & 90's. One of the all time great dunkers.
  

Work On The Road

I'm in San Diego for work. It's ok I guess. I'm not stuck behind a desk all day, which is nice. We're staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Mission Beach. I don't really see what the big deal is about San Diego, though. Besides the beach areas, it's really nothing special in my opinion. I mean sure, the climate is pretty nice. But there's tons of people crammed together into a small space. I guess it's like that with any big city, and apparently I'm not much of a city person. Anyways...here's where we are staying...


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Did You Know?

My friend put this up on her blog, so I'm stealing the link :)
If the estimations are true, it's pretty amazing. Bare minimum it'll make you think, which is good. You should watch it.

What The Big Boys Don't Want You To Know

I was listening to the NPR Science Friday radio show today at lunch. They were talking about car technology; what is possible and where we are headed. Anyways, one of their guests was this guy who was a teacher from inner city Philadelphia, and he claims his class had built a couple of hybrid cars using "off the shelf parts" and a "shoe-string budget". With common parts and relatively little money, they were able to make a fully functional and practical hybrid car that gets 180 miles per gallon! That's right, you heard me. They were also able to build a sports car hybrid, that could do 0-60 in about five seconds, but still get 60 mpg!

I always figured the car manufacturers were dragging their feet when it came to increasing fuel efficiency...especially the U.S. companies. According to this guy though, the technology is here and now, and all of the car companies have been exposed. I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere that the Model T used to get about 20 mpg when it came out 100 years ago. There is no reason the average family car should only be getting 25 mpg (or so) 100 years later!

I know what you're thinking, "Yeah, they can make a car that gets 180 mpg, but I'm sure it costs like $80,000 dollars." Not true my friends. That's the lie the car manufacturers want you to believe. The high school teacher claims they can make a production quality version of their car for just over $20,000 dollars.

Unless this teacher is full of crap, why are we wasting billions of dollars bailing out the major car companies? I want my tax dollars to go to this guy and his high school class!

Rice

I read an article in the news today about how scientists supposedly developed a new strain of "flood proof" rice. They went on to say that considering how much of the world depends on rice, this flood proof rice would help keep a consistent supply available. So now when places like Bangledesh and India get flooded out by typhoons, people are less likely to end up starving due to all of their rice being drowned.

Anyways...seemed pretty cool I guess.

Smoking Is Bad For Your Health

I can't believe it?!? Smoking is bad for you and causes cancer?!? What a medical break-through!  NPR just broke the story:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99652538

Haha. Ok, ok. Enough of the sarcasm. Sure, the article and this "expert" are being more specific by claiming that "...people who kick the habit before age 50 can substantially cut their risk of dying in the next 15 years." Umm...how do I say this...DUH!  Come on now people, seriously. That's essentially saying the same thing as always; the sooner you quit smoking the better. 

Must have been a slow news day, huh? 

What Comes Around Goes Around

Here's a perfect example of why you shouldn't steal digital media:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/01/26/two_new_trojan_horses_threaten_mac_software_pirates.html

Sorry, maybe I'm just heartless...but I don't feel bad for those people one bit.  All they had to do was buy a legitmate copy of the software and this never would have happened! Haha, idiots.  They deserve everything bad that happens to their computers.

Sunshine

So I'm pretty sure that I've seen more direct sunshine in the last day, than I did for the whole week I was in Michigan. Just saying.