Global light maps

NOAA-NASA Satellite Image

I look at maps frequently and at length. I find them fascinating. Aerial images also appeal to me, because they have a map-like quality. Among those that have intrigued me are images of Earth showing lights at night. I came upon a new one to me recently and am sharing it here, in case others might has a similar interest.

I snagged this image from a section of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Web site devoted to the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite. Interested readers can go to the page called “Our Earth at night” to read lots more, but here’s a snippet to explain a bit.

Data > BS

It’s easy to doubt this equation in the political season, but BSers are common on TV and in the newspapers.

Well, The data folx are getting their due, as Nate Silver, Drew Linzer, Daryl Homlman, and especially, Sam Wang get recognized by the smart press because these people are accurately calling election data. Their observations were pretty dang accurate. Even though some advocates called these data people’s observations biased, it turns out that those observations may actually have been biased the opposite direction!

Be smart about ocean debris

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a blog about marine debris chocked full of interesting entries. As are many other agencies, NOAA is using social media extensively (e.g., see the Facebook page for its Office of Exploration and Research, the Vimeo shows for its Climate Program Office, and, of course, its own Twitter feed and weather information on its own YouTube channel), but the marine debris blog is a bit unique. It has a voice of its own. It’s focused, friendly, informative, and entertaining. It’s a good use of my tax dollars.

Checking e-mail with Wendy McNaughton

Wendy McNaughton, who draws lots of wonderful things, dropped a classic Thursday 19 April 2012 in her blog. I’ve come to think of e-mail as evil. It’s overtaking my life, I have great intentions of only spending certain periods of time using it each day, but I find myself turning to it still at other times. There is so much of the stuff. I am obsessed with cleaning out all the unopened documents. People call me to ask me if I’ve read their messages. Yikes!

So, go and enjoy Ms. McNaughton’s send up of e-mail. And, after you’ve looked at her blog post, scoot over to her Web site and scout about a bit. Admire her map of the neighbohoods of San Francisco or her bit about the SF Public Library

sopa pipa

search sopa & pipa at  free speech (I care about my copyrights, but some things are more important.)

Saving sinusitis sufferers $$: Low tech wins

Do you have problems with allergies but can’t afford to throw $100s at an expensive air filtration system? Jeffrey E. Terrell, M.D., director of the University of Michigan Health System’s Michigan Sinus Center, has help for you. In this video he shows how to construct one for about $25; it takes 90% of the particulate matter out of the the air.

Link to the full press release from NewsWise MedWire. Low-tech wins, no?

Water sources

That venerable green group, the Nature Conservancy (TNC), is taking crowd sourcing on an interesting mission. On its Web site, there is a request that readers research the source of drinking water for US localities and submit the results to a TNC project. TNC has recommendations for tracking down the info on water sources, a multimedia feature showing images and such about the places (63 cities as of this writing) where people have submitted info about water sources, and an interactive map from which one can select those that have been submitted (yes neighbors, C’ville is already marked, of course; TNC has an outpost in the gracious hinterlands here).

Link to the Nature Conservancy’s Where Does Your Water Come From? Is your locality listed? When we lived out in North Garden, our water source was very local; we didn’t share it with anyone.

Free us from TSA?

David Vincent Wolf has a dang good take on the flap about

intrusive | invasive | insensitive

[pick one or insert another] searches recommended by the US government. How far will the populace of the home of the free go to be secure? How many freedoms will we sacrifice for safety? What price paranoia?

O.K. That “paranoia” is probably a little hyperbolic. But, hasn’t this gone about far enough?

The image is hot, but if you’d rather have the URL so you can copy it and share it directly here ‘tiz:

http://davidvincentwolf.com/notes/22611-land-of-the-free

Junk mail’s gotta go

Yikes! I ought to do some fact-checking on the data here, but these numbers are awe-inspiring.

In the 1990s or so I began using the Direct Marketing Association’s mechanism for opting out of direct mail. I only have case-study level data, but I can testify that we don’t get as much junk as this graphic indicates we would. We also don’t get as much as some of our friends say they get. I’ve used the DMA for some of my family and seen a substantial reduction in the junk they get, too.

Now, I’d like to see it apply to the horrible marketing I saw in the just-completed election campaign.

The image is linked. Thanks to Jay and Tim Willingham for another good one.

HB Jonas Salk

Jonas Salk, the medical researcher who developed the first safe and effective polio vaccine in the early 1950s, was born in New York City on this day in 1914. His scientific work on the creation of the polio vaccine was important not only because it addressed a great clinical need, but also because it applied a previously unused technique—killed virus in a vaccine. What is more, because it occurred at a time of rapid progress in mass communications (TV was just becoming commmonplace), the news of the scientific developments spread nearly instantly and Dr. Salk attained great celebrity.

As a young child I remember the stir about the vaccine, discussions of the live and dead virus, eggs, polio, iron lungs, swimming pool water, and on and on. And, of course, I remember getting vaccinated. Before the vaccine, I have a vague sense that maybe some child at the edges of my peer group may have gotten polio and disappeared into the shadows. But the rest of us stood in lines at the armory. Maybe a second or third dose was in the form of a sugar cube?

Anyway, hats off too Dr. Salk and the many others who have worked so diligently to develop preventive vaccines and to immunize populations.

http://www.salk.edu/about/jonas_salk.html

http://www.polio.pitt.edu/