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Like the steel industry in Pittsburgh had. One week of 10 hour night shifts, 24 hours off, one week of 14 hour day shifts and a 24 hour shift to switch back to the night shift... See http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/ptpa.html -- it was so good for productivitiy!

Hasn't Carnegie Mellon produced at least a couple of similar robots that give tours?

Yes. There is SAGE at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History which I've seen in person and there may be more of which I am not aware.

I think the greenhouse effect has more to do with absorption than with angle of incidence. Blackbody emission peak wavelength decreases with temperature. The Sun, a 6000 K blackbody, emits visible light, which passes through the windows and is absorbed by the interior. The interior, a 300 K blackbody, emits infrared, which is absorbed by the windows.

In his autobiography, 19th century instrument maker John A. Brashear describes a project to make lenses out of salt crystals for an astronomer who wanted to make infrared observations. Salt is supposed to be much more transparent than glass in that band of the spectrum.

Andrew Carnegie was once the richest man in the world, but he dedicated himself - not to extending his steel fortune into monopolies on construction, automobiles, and other durable goods made from steel - but to _public_ access to self-education, information, and knowledge. He literally gave away all of his considerable fortune for this vision.

He single-handedly funded the establishment of the public libraries all across the United States that have played a large part in the subsequent success of this country over the last century. He believed that improving the lot of his fellow citizens was his obligation, and an honor to achieve. Andrew Carnegie was a truly great man and US patriot.

Here is a brief appreciation. Use Google for more about this great man who funded the libraries that educated the citizens who built this country, defeated the Axis dictators of Europe and Asia in WWII, and stared down the totalitarian dictators in the Cold War. (By the way, the megalomaniac Bill Gates isn't fit to view his grave.)

But what does this mean for the Authors Guild and their sniveling about Amazon offering used books? Simply this: serious authors (those who aren't just in it for the money) should (and do) measure their success not by royalties, but by how many people read and appreciate their works. They should not care (and the good ones don't) how many people _buy_ their books, but rather, how many people _read_ their books. The wise authors know that if they write well, lots of people will read what they write, and more people over time will buy their new works. It's only marginal authors and (more likely) their publishers who are whingeing at Amazon about the selling of used books online. Trading, lending and borrowing, even giving away used books are all Good Things.

Now we just need to get the same standards applied for books codified for CDs and DVDs, that is, utterly defeat the RIAA and MPAA attempts at taking over the world.

I was down at the main Carnegie Library and picked up a few books containing a variety of distros (redhat and about 3 others I do belive). Also had books like The Cathedral and the Bazzar and a book on Open Source theory and some other stuff like it, all in the same section too.

i caught it with 20x120 binocs .. i was observing from quite a light polluted place in new delhi on 16/12. it was very high in the sky and made the observation neck breaking!

It was really some experience .. first hunting that quickly moving rock at the limit of binocs reach and then watch it move w.r.t stars .. and to know that before 2027, next such event (bright NEO) will only happen in 2004. :-)

i have put my observation log and a plot of moving wt24 and stars here. the log shows some of excitement i went through. not anything of scientific value though.

here are downloadable finder charts prepared using Guide 7.0 to make life a little easier.

here is a MUST SEE mpeg video made by compiling the frames from a 2 hour CCD run on WT24 by Nick James

here is great image showing 1 complete rotation of 1998 WT24

The reason this article is significant is not that it's the first to suggest that sauropods held their necks horizontally - that is, as you say, old news. However, it supports that theory, making specific reference to calculations of blood pressure and required heart size, et al.

As one example, this fluff piece on the Diplodocus at the Carnegie museum gives the reasoning for displaying the new dinosaur statue with a horizontal neck as being based on the ability of the shoulder and neck to withstand vertical stress. (though it turns out that they had to raise the head a bit to keep kids from climbing on it)

I've got one of those Intellimouse Explorers (the huge silver ones with the superfluous tail light and like three extra buttons; well, what the hell, here's a http://www.microsoft.com/Mouse/explorer.htm link) and sites that won't let you back out are an incredible annoyance. See, two of the buttons on there serve as Forward/Back (respectively) while browsing the web, and after about 20 minutes of using them, I was hooked. You wouldn't believe how simple (and remarkably intuitive) to navigate with your thumb. Now if I could just find a good use for those buttons in Half-Life... I mean, sure, it's easy enough to hold down the back button and select the page before the offending site, but that would require moving my cursor over six or so linear inches of desktop space. Isn't that just a little bit unreasonable? No? Ah well.

I believe the point in question is that artists, satirists, etc. should be allowed to use trademarks in their works. I wonder what happens to Andy Warhols of this Brave New World (tm). His art included trademarked things like Campbell Soup can, Mercedes Benz prototypes and even Three Coke Bottles. --
MotorMachineMercenary
"Talent borrows, Genius steals...and Shit copies."
- The Designer's Republic

Frankly, it amazes me that after their part in the labor struggles of the 20th century that the Pinkertons are even still around, and successful. I mean I suppose historical evils like the Nazi's still hang around, but they aren't part of mainstream society or anything that decent people want to be associated with.

Oh, and incidentally it doesn't matter whether or not, "N.C. is trying to root out video game playing," what they are doing is giving High School kids a place to send poison pen letters. Want to get someone in your class you don't like? Just call the Pinkertons, they'll take care of it for you!

I mean seriously, you'd expect them to have at least done some research on the movies they show to school kids. My English teacher in junior high showed us all The Wave the same year she showed us the Diary of Anne Frank. It's comical that something which aspires to be a U.S. version of the Comintern/Hitler Youth would choose W.A.V.E. for their name.

Well, I guess we should all be happy that a company with a proud tradition of union busting, strike breaking and general oppression is bringing it's techniques to the American public school system. Of course, where I went to school we learned all about the Pinkertons, I wonder if they'll change the history books in the school districts where the friendly Pinkertons are helping out? Of course I did go to school in working class Irish NJ, I suspect they may already have different history books in NC...