October 2008

Minnesota Hot Dish

October 29, 2008

This week I visited my colleagues in Eagan, Minnesota, to capture on film their various expertise (don’t ask me to explain what they do, I stay behind the camera for a reason). There were several other visitors, so the Eagan folks organized a traditional Minnesota potluck, with traditional Minnesota foods such as Mexican lasagna, jello [...]

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The Marvelous Machine

October 28, 2008

I’m visiting Sun’s office in Eagan, MN, this week, where I was delighted to find that my colleague Todd Pisek shares my fascination with antique office equipment. These things are nostalgic for me: my aunt and grandfather were both accountants, so I associate memories of them with typewriters, electronic adding machines and, later, a Tandy [...]

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10 Simple Things You Can Do to Reduce Environmental Impact and Save Money (Pt 2)

October 23, 2008

Tip one – use fewer bottles – was published earlier. Recycle. We’ve been recycling in Italy for so long that I wince when I see plastic and paper going into the general waste stream. Most parts of the US offer recycling now, and it’s not that much extra effort to do it. This includes composting [...]

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The Twitter Diaries: October, 2008

October 21, 2008

These are nervous times, and my tweets reflect that… Note: The time stamp is wrong on some of them, no idea why. cancelled 1.5 hr meeting leaves me time to help with lab cleanup. Lots and lots of cables to pull and coil up… 9:25 AM Oct 1st @ThinGuy you really want Congress deciding what’s [...]

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10 Simple Things You Can Do to Reduce Environmental Impact and Save Money

October 20, 2008

I’ve been back in the US for six months now, and here, as everywhere I go, I’ve been observing the local lifestyle. Americans are increasingly concerned about their impact on the global environment, which is great, but many focus on expensive, grandiose solutions like “trade in your gas-guzzler for an expensive hybrid car”. In these [...]

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Autumn in Colorado

October 19, 2008

The foliage is not as spectacular a New England’s, but you can’t beat that blue sky and a mountain breeze.

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Why I’m Volunteering for Obama

October 18, 2008

Today I asked campaign volunteers in Westminster, Colorado, why they are dedicating so much time to getting Barack Obama elected. Here are their answers.

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The Streets of Colorado

October 17, 2008

Last Sunday, a cold, dreary fall day in this part of Colorado, I went out canvassing to find out who’s going to vote for Obama. I arrived at the local HQ (a storefront in a strip mall near a Costco) around noon. A guy explained to me at length what I was supposed to do, [...]

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Photo Gallery: Colorado, Sept 2008

October 12, 2008

Life in Colorado’s Front Range. I haven’t lost my love of photographing flowers. Click on any captioned photo below to read a bit of explanation/description.

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Americans’ Phobia of Socialized Medicine

October 11, 2008

I am baffled by the people I encounter in this country who think that “socialized medicine” is evil. I’m not sure how they arrive at this conclusion. It seems that, for some, anything they can label “socialist” is automatically frightening. But we have state-run fire and police departments and military (among many other things), and [...]

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On the Phone for Obama

October 10, 2008

I spent an instructive couple of hours this evening making phone calls on behalf of the Obama campaign. Yes, I am one of those annoying people who interrupts your dinner to ask who you’ll be voting for. (I’m in Colorado, one of the few states where the answer actually matters.) I’ve had a fear of [...]

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Folsom Street Fair 2008

October 7, 2008

I was in the Bay Area for some conferences, and decided I might as well combine pleasure with business, and take advantage of my last opportunity to stay with Gianluca and Brian in San Francisco before they move to New York. By coincidence, that Sunday was the 25th anniversary of the Folsom Street Fair, which [...]

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