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LavaCon 2026 and the future.

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LavaCon is a conference now going on 25 years. Its always fun at conferences where folks collaborate on what the future holds. This year I drove to Charlotte NC from Duluth GA to attend. I used the Tesla in Full Self Drive. I went park-to-park without touching the wheel for over 200 miles. It's crazy. I don't think most people understand how well it works. Lots of nay-sayers still, but it really does work. Be on guard, but enjoy. I spent some of my time "driving" while conversing with Grok as part of my daydreaming. I was discussing with Grok an idea I have of building a West system (cold molded) old style barrel-back runabout maybe 20 feet long- all varnished Mahogony. Of course this boat would have an exotic 12-cylinder engine under a transparent engine hatch between the twin cockpits. We discussed the designs, available actual study plans and pre-lofted design documents for the hull. We also discussed the best engine (perhaps a BMW N73) coupled with a Velvet Dri...
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This weekend there is a large Agricultural equipment show in Atlanta. I spent much of my day there. I didn't buy a tractor, but I am shopping. Should I get the Greene one (Fendt) or the Yellow one (Challenger)? There were a lot of nice machines there and I learned a bunch of stuff. I hope to farm in a few years with some nice new equipment. There is much to learn. "What the Pho?" What a great name for a Asian Noodle restaurant. It was good. It is a great way to get rid of a cold. I tried a restaurant the other night down in Atlanta called "6 feet under" It was quite good and reasonable. I have been taking the Atlanta Marta train alot lately. It is nice to be able to veg and not have to worry about the Atlanta traffic. Certainly the most critical aspect of Atlanta is the traffic. You have to plan. I am quiting the fancy health club because the traffic is so bad getting the 4 miles over there. It can take 30 minutes at some times. Crazy. Things are going gre...
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On June 6 2004 I listed my top ten favorite songs. I think that list needs some updating. Again, in no particular order. Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major Metallica: Nothing Else Matters (new) Patsy Cline: That Wonderful Someone (certainly, this is not the best version) Melody Gardot: Our Love is Easy (new) Frank Sinatra: My Way Pink Floyd: Pigs on the Wing Elvis Presly: In the Ghetto Hugh Masekela: The Boy is Doing It (new) Morten Stevens: Theme to Hawaii Five-OH Quincy Jones (and many many others): Killer Joe
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It looks like some folks got creative with tempra paint on the Kilawog Rt 11 ice flows. It gets pretty. I can't wait until we can blast some paint bombs up higher with a potato canon appropriately loaded. Err... I mean until someone comes along with a potato canon with dry paint bombs. Life is too short not to make art where you can.
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Another story about the dire straits of Upstate NY. http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/111709/us-cities-running-out-of-people . Two out the 7 worst cites are in Upstate NY. Upstate NY is being drained like a malnourished African tit for downstate pension and entitlement needs. It has never been more apparent. When times are good people can look the other way. What do people do when do when things aren't going well? It is well past the time to have Upstate succeed from the rest of NY. I cannot tell you how often I run into someone from Upstate NY. I was in Paris, France and I ran into someone from Irondequoit. I was on the Appalachian Trail and I ran into someone from Mendon. I was in Kroger in Georgia and met someone from Fairport. Like my boss says (he's from Fredonia) "they have ruined that state". None truer words. Remember the "I Love NY slogan"? Where has that tourism effort gone? Sadly it has been abandoned. Where are the lower (even just r...
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The PBS NOVA program tonight was about Antarctica. It was strange watching it. All the shots brought back feelings, everything from the thin blue glove liners and "Big Red" (the parkas). The very familiar helicopters 08H and 36J were stories in themselves to me. I saw several of my friends and it seems like I had met just about everyone who was interviewed. A fair amount of the shooting was done when I was there it appeared. It was interesting to get whisked about by camera edits rather than geography, a shot of Mt Erebus and then in the same sequence you are at WAIS Divide or some place out in the Taylor Valley. For the viewer it was all one place, Antarctica. It was nice and made me homesick in a way.
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I am headed back to Atlanta after being in NY for the holidays. I am delayed in the SYR airport for at least a few hours because of weather in Atlanta. I have not had many delays traveling, really. Maybe I just don't notice them as much any more. The trees were frosted on some of the hilltops around Dryden NY. It makes things look cold.
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I am in NY recharging my batteries (cellphones, laptops, camera). It was 3 degrees F the other morning. That is a big difference from summertime in South America last week. My strategy for not getting sick seems to work. I take vitimins, get as much sleep as possible (not enough for sure). I also wash my hands like a surgeon at every opportunity. DJ and I went for some short hikes walking very slowly. It was nice. We went to Taughannock Falls near Ithaca. http://www.nyfalls.com/taughannock-rock-fall.html I went into the bakery first-thing with DJ since my Internet is down at the house and I have quite a bit of work to do before the end of the year. The cause of the outage of my terrestrial broadband is because of a bad antenna at the provider's tower site. I hope they can climb and get it fixed soon.
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