This reminded me of one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. Once on vacation in Eastern Oregon, there was a total eclipse of the moon, just like this one. And some people nearby were taking photographs of it. Flash photographs. The round-trip time to the moon at the speed of light is 3 seconds and I wouldn't even want to calculate the attenuation caused by 320,000 miles of range. Sometimes it seems as if some people are completely and totally clueless about what they're doing.
posted by Steven Den Beste on Jul 25, 2000 - 12 comments

One of the worst economic miscalculations of all time ends not with a bang, but with a whimper. Over 5 BILLION dollars was poured into Iridium (and $2 billion of that came from Motorola), and most of it is going to burn up in the atmosphere over the next two years as they deorbit their 60 satellites. (They have to bring them down so that they aren't a traffic hazard.)

Next time someone tries to tell you that capitalism can do no wrong, ask them about Iridium.
posted by Steven Den Beste on Mar 18, 2000 - 7 comments