Spring

Okay, it isn't Spring ... it really isn't even close. But it feels like Spring outside. Even weeds are beautiful today.

Mark My Words, Again

I ran across a story in the news today about cars that can drive themselves. As loyal reader of my blog will attest, I am obsessed with this idea:

Driverless Cars

A couple of interesting points: First, GM is trying to design a car that will be compatible with existing roads -- and existing, human-controlled traffic. Second, the time-frame is within the next eight years. Both of these assumptions are way, way beyond anything I would dare predict. I still think it will take 10 years before most people accept the fact that this will happen someday. It will be ten years after that before we see driverless cars on the roads.

Given that this is being researched by a leading innovator like GM, we can expect millions to be wasted on concept cars that never reach the roads. On the plus side, they might thrash around and get Honda or Toyota interested.

The picture above is of my Grandmother Cage, my Dad, and his younger brother and sister. The car in the background is, in my opinion, one of the best looking automobiles in human history.

The Late Late Show With Me

The only late-night talk show I watch these days is Craig Ferguson. Actually, watch is the wrong word -- I record the show, and listen as I'm eating breakfast the next day. Last Thursday, I almost choked on my Cheerios -- Ferguson read my e-mail on the air! It was Ferguson's first new show after two months off for the writers' strike. I thought the joke I sent him was kind of dumb, but it got a laugh.

It's an in-joke, so unless you watch the Late Late Show, it probably won't be funny at all. Here it is: "Dear Craig. You have a very busy show tonight. Do you even have time for this e-mail?" Ferguson read the email, said "No," and threw it back on the stack.

Like I said, kind of a dumb joke. But now "James from Duluth, GA" is a celebrity from coast-to-coast.

I'm so proud.

Seven Albums

Today, I received seven albums in the mail:

• Kim Richey, Chinese Boxes
• Fountains of Wayne, Traffic and Weather
• Ivy, In the Clear
• Shawn Colvin, These Four Walls
• Sarah Harmer, All of Our Names
• Joan Osborne, Pretty Little Stranger
• Dave Brubeck Quartet, Time Out

It's a good haul. I buy all of my CDs used (at SecondSpin.com), so finding a particular album is a combination of luck and patience. Maybe it's the holiday season, but a lot of good music became available all at once, so I jumped. According to iTunes, these albums represent Alternative, Country, Folk, Pop, and Jazz. My musical taste is growing in all directions at once.

I've listened to Brubeck and the new Fountains of Wayne, and I'm listing to In the Clear as I write this. All are excellent. When Fountains of Wayne is playing, I really listen. I want to hear every lyric, get every joke, see every image. Jazz is different. I tend to zone out, daydreaming, and only occasionally coming back to consciously hear the music. But the daydreams are pleasant.

I'm particularly happy that Kim Richey has come out with a new CD. Her album Rise is one of my favorites (Electric Green -- wow). I'll be happy if Chinese Boxes is half as good.

I used to eat here all the time ...

For years, after I moved back to Georgia, I would eat at this restaurant once or twice each week. It's just down the street from where I live. Today, almost all the businesses in that strip mall are gone. I can't remember any really great meals at Rio Bravo, just the chips and dark salsa (excellent). Here are some of my favorite restaurant meals today (in no particular order):

• Jambalaya and Corn Bread: Roaster's Chicken Rotisserie
• Asian Duck Breast Salad: Seasons 52
• Mediterranean Salad & Grilled Chicken (with Hummus Appetizer): Athens Pizza
• Sashimi Tuna Salad: Houston's
• Wild Mushroom Soup: Fresh to Order
• Salsa Trio & Three Tacos (Fried Chicken, Veggie, and Fish): Taqueria del Sol
• Salmon BLT: Murphy’s (Virginia Highlands)

For dessert: Strawberry Shortcake at the OK Cafe.

I have a feeling that I will be back to this entry, to add some others that I’ve forgotten.

Mark My Words

The third DARPA Challenge was this weekend. Three years ago, the Defence Department gave a $1 million prize, a challenge to anyone who could build a robotic car that could navigate 160 miles through the desert -- with no driver, no remote control, no "wires in the road" -- just on-board computing power and on-board sensors.

That year (2004), no vehicle made it more than five (5) miles.

The next year (2005), five vehicles made it through the complex course, at average speeds over 45 miles per hour.

Then DARPA offered about $2 million in prizes, but moved the contest to a simulated urban environment. Stop signs. Other vehicles. Simulated pedestrians.

This year (2007), three vehicles made it through under the time limit, and eight more made it through without incident. That's right -- almost no crashes or problems at all. The cars were so successful, that observers found it boring to watch. The cost of all of this research to the American taxpayer? About $3 million. And keep in mind that this was WITHOUT any supervisory computer control, which would make the system faster, more efficient, and safer.

I've been saying this for years, but let me get on the record again. No, we won't have fully robotic cars on our streets in 10 years. But in 10 years, most people will agree that robotic cars are coming. Ten years after that, automated vehicles will be on the roads somewhere in the world. Ten years after THAT, most vehicles in the developed world will be automated. If there are vehicles (outside of theme parks) that humans can drive, there will be so many computer-controlled safety features as to make the human's actions more like suggestions than actual commands.

And I can't wait. The idea of putting a 17-year-old in charge of 2000 lbs of metal, tearing down highways and back roads at 80 miles per hour, scares the crap out of me. But we will live to see a time when that's a thing of the past.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/robot_cars_dc;_ylt=Aj8cZ5Ud7EYxW1V37sDjRqIjtBAF

What Would Arnold Do?

Recently, Peggy Noonan and others on the Right were justifiably offended when some people in the Administration attributed their opposition to the immigration bill to racism or lack of patriotism. Even the Wall Street Journal editors have made blanket statements about opponents of the current immigration reform, like saying that "that crowd" is "foaming at the mouth."

I have a strong feeling that the people in Washington and the WSJ editors were reading web sites and blogs on the other side, which are also attacking them and their motives. We need to get away from that. I like the way Arnold Schwarzenegger talks about politics. When he talks about an issue, he starts by recapping his understanding of what the other side thinks and why, and he implicitly attributes only the best motives to them. Then he explains why he thinks the way he does. It's very persuasive, and it helps clear away some of the anger, so that debate can be more rational.

I don't know exactly where Schwarzenegger stands on immigration, but if I were to use his tactics, I might say something like this: People on the other side respect the law, and they don't want to reward people who have broken the law. They want to control the border ("bordah") with Mexico, because no country can be sovereign or secure unless it controls it's borders. They don't want to see illegals exploited, and they want to have one set of rules for everybody. To do this, they want to close the border first, and then either deport the illegals, force them to return to Mexico by cutting off jobs, or fine them.

I agree with everything here ("heeuh") except the tactics. If you build a wall without fixing the underlying problems, you will still have many enforcement problems because no wall is totally secure. Also, you will wall in all of the illegals who are here today. If you try to deport 12,000,000 workers, you will fail. But in the effort you will create deep animosities that will last for generations. If you try to punish the businesses that hire the labor, you will hurt our economy. Not destroy the economy, but hurt it and make it grow more slowly, which is bad for everybody and worst for the poorest people. And all of the walling and enforcing and rules and regulations will cost money, and hurt all businesses, even the completely legitimate businesses.

I say, make the border with Mexico strong and secure by opening it to people who want to work. Then the people they come into America through checkpoints, where you can check them for the criminal records and the drugs and so on and so on. Now the only people who are not crossing at the checkpoints are the real criminals, like drug dealers. They will stand out more, they will be easier to see and arrest and put in jail with the shanking and the homosexual shower raping.

I say, respect the law by not making new laws that can not be enforced. Respect the law by changing laws that are not enforced and can not be enforced today. Deporting 12,000,000 hard working people just can not be done. Expecting them to go back to Mexico for six months voluntarily, as the President does, won't work. Do with the immigration laws what we did with the speed limit on the highways -- raise the speed limit. If you are Mexican and you want to come to America to work and pay taxes to America, then come. The border is open to you, and when you want to leave, the border is open so you can leave without fear. The taxes you pay to Social Security today will be redirected to the schools and hospitals you use, instead of to the welfare programs that you will not have any access to. The wealth you create in America, and the jobs you create for the doctors and the engineers and the builders and the small business owners will be good for everybody.

Finally, I want to say one more thing. In America today, there is one industry that does not hire any illegal workers. That is the government industry. The Federal government and the state governments are the only places in America where the number of unionized workers has gone up over the last 20 years. In the rest of America, as the number of immigrant workers have increased sharply over the last few years, the number of union members has gone way down. Did unemployment go up? No, unemployment went way way down. Today we have one of the lowest unemployment rates in our history and in the world. If we close the border to people who want to work, then labor will become a scarce commodity. The unions, who want to control labor, would make a comeback. With active unions, American companies would hire fewer people, and move many of the jobs that remain outside the country. Every time Delta wants to hire a gate agent, or you want to paint your house, you would have to talk to Tony Soprano. I tell you that if you close the border, unemployment will go up, not down. That will be bad for everyone, but worst for Americans who just want to work.