I don't know if this 2007 dust storm occurred close to Hanks house--maybe he can comment. But this dust storm is dramatic. I'm never seen anything like it. I hope these guys brought along some extra air filters for their car . . .
eriophora biapicata Thought I'd post something different - a little taste of home. Literally from my own backyard in fact. This is a female eriophora biapicata, or Garden Orb-weaving spider (females are about one-quarter to one-third bigger than males). Unlike many Australian arachnids (and most Australian wildlife in general), this…
Penn and Teller's explanation of sleight of hand is delightful. You get the whole lecture in about three minutes. As entertaining as this video is, it could also serve to remind us of a set of principles by which humans deceive each others through fallacious and misleading arguments. Because we are creatures of limited attention and growing fatigue, we are vulnerable to cognitive misdirection much as we are vulnerable to prestidigitation. For more on human attentional limitations, see here. Further, I have given considerable thought to the idea that much human decision-making could be explained in terms of attentional limitations. For more, see this paper I wrote in 1996.
It didn’t take long to realize what that that "Photo Enforcement Program" letter from the City of St. Louis was all about. As I opened the letter, the only thing that occurred to me was to make sure whether the letter was for me (as opposed to my wife). It was for me. I had gotten nailed by the new photo traffic enforcement system that the City of St. Louis installed near my house. Over the past 30 years, I've received a total of 2 traffic tickets. I guess I was due. I was pissed, of course. This was going to cost me $100 even though I didn’t do anything flagrant. I had rolled a right turn onto a high entrance ramp through a red light. This occurred at a traffic light 1/2 mile from my house. I had done it hundreds of times; hundreds of other safe drivers do it every day. My crime is that I failed to come to a complete stop before turning right to accelerate down that highway ramp. I was going about 5 mph around that corner. I remembered the strobe flash going off that day last week; at the time, I wondered whether it was aimed at me. Sure enough. I should clarify: I don't always roll through that right turn. If ever there is any traffic in the area, or any pedestrians, I always come to a complete stop.
I saw the sign on the back of the van and I understood that I was to "Stay Back." I just didn't understand why. Not that I was tempted to disobey. I wondered, "Did they forget to lock the back door? Will a prisoner throw the door open and scratch my car's bumper?" I suppose the sign means that drivers should give the sheriff lots of room to get the prisoners in and out of the van. Perhaps the warning could be better phrased, though.