Even in the middle of the convention, I carry on.

Why? Well, why not? Call it counter-programming. You'll be real grateful for that next week, when the other option will be watching Mitt Romney try to be authentic.

In any event, this is your regular weekly forum for asking questions about how this place works, and get them answered. We strive for accuracy, but results my vary, especially after a glass or two of wine.

Ask your questions, and take the poll.

-dms

Last week, sheddhead and I went to visit a gem of Chicago art and architecture. Hidden away in the innocuously-titled "Chicago Cultural Center" is a real treat:

Via Ben Smith at Politico, the schedule and format for the fall debates has been mostly finalized. Mostly, because the VP debate format won't be finalized until we know who the two VP candidates are.

Your regularly scheduled forum for asking questions about how this place works.

“The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Ms. Wallace said.

(Link)

What a wonderful, all-purpose excuse. Let's give it a whirl...

This weekend is the annual Chicago Air and Water show. The "Water" part is distinctly secondary; everyone really goes to see various aircraft, which are either aerobatics or military flybys (or both; the show alternates between the Air Force and Navy precision flying teams each year; this year, it's the Blue Angels). Attendance is usually in the ~2 million person range. That's a lot of people cramming into a few miles of lakefront.

Anyway, a couple of pictures from a few years ago.

Umpteenth in a regular weekday evening series, a place to ask questions about how this place works and get them answered. We strive for accuracy in answers, but bear in mind the following disclaimer:

Whitey tape? A mere bagatelle.

Forged Hawaiian birth certificate? A minor detail.

Now, Johnson has discovered a new Obama scandal (nb: link goes directly to Larry's House of Crazy. Be warned) that will be like (in his words) a Pearl Harbor attack.

The stupid awaits below

A couple of weeks ago in this series, I posted a picture of a rather odd-looking thermometer attached to one of the systems at the lab I work in. Some people had some questions about the equipment itself, so here are a few pictures and a bit of an explanation.

Your regularly scheduled forum for asking questions about how this place functions (or, at times, doesn't function), and get them answered. I'd say "no question too stupid", but I've put in enough time as a TA that I know that indeed there is such a thing as a too-stupid question.

Stuck at work doing regularly-scheduled maintenance of the equipment. Has to be done daily, but today the available time slots were 6 AM, 5 PM, and 3 tomorrow morning. I'll take the 5 PM.

I don't have time to put together any new shots, so here are a few from photoblogging diaries of the past...

A truly bizarre story greeted me as I opened my morning paper. It seems that a man in Indiana was fed up with the liberal bias of Starbucks and other such coffee shops, and decided to open what could best be described as the Fox News of cafes.

I wish I were joking

Your regularly scheduled Wednesday evening forum for asking questions about how this place works, and get them answered.

This was a long long week, with 12 hour work days for most of it. Consequently, today's picture is from work. This was a long week because we're in the middle of installing a very complicated and very precisely engineered piece of equipment (short version: A very fancy refrigerator, which can theoretically cool things down to roughly 0.01 degrees above absolute zero).

Your (mostly)-regularly scheduled forum for asking questions about how this place works and get them answered.

I have some sad news to report. Months ago, this diary series broke the story of a horribly injust imprisonment.

Today, it pains me to report that the prisoner has died...

Your regular weekly forum for asking questions about how this place, and get them answered. Questions from all comers are welcome, and we'll all do our best to get them answered. Hopefully, they'll even be answered correctly.

I was remiss last week in not thanking georgia10 for filling in for me the week before. My apologies for not doing so earlier.

-dms

And the truly sad thing is, those are his words, as shared in an interview with the New York Times: