8. March, 2004 - getting to work
- Jim’s got commentary on the strike at Minnesota Taxpayers League Declares Class War. One of the things I’ve been thinking about as the strike goes on is the history of transit in the Twin Cities. Did you know that transit in Minneapolis and St. Paul was privately owned until the 1960s, when Carl Pohlad ran Twin City Lines. Check out the Wikipedia entry for more information. There’s also a lot of great information at the Minnesota Historical Society (including information on the strike of 1917, which broke the streetcar drivers union), at the Minneapolis Public Library and at the Met Council. Also, hydro-electric power at Lower St. Anthony Falls was completed in 1897 and the Rapid Transit Steam Power Plant was built in 1903 to run streetcar lines. It became the University of Minnesota’s Steam Plant, which still contains electrical gear from that era. It’s all tied together, and to further digress, that’s exactly why I liked James Burke’s Connections so much. [jim]
- Speaking of James Burke, he’s started a KnowledgeWeb Project that looks pretty darned interesting too.
- Pentagon to offer news service from Iraq and Afghanistan to send news directly to the Internet or to news services like AP. The service is expected to begin in April and will provide coverage of events where the press is excluded, such as within battle zones. [fark!]
- Here’s a A History of Apple’s Operating Systems that doesn’t have too many errors. It glosses over some of the big changes inside Apple (there’s almost no mention of QuickDraw GX, and QuickTime isn’t really covered, for example), but if you’re not a Mac geek, it might tell you something you didn’t know.
- Looking to learn how to weld, run a lathe, or make your Remington 700 or AR-15 more accurate? Technical Video Rental probably has a video that will help, and you can rent it for a week for $9.99, which includes postage both directions. Or as Cory says,
’learn how to compete on JunkYard Wars from the comfort of your own couch.
I haven’t checked out any of the videos yet, but I’ll probably take a look at a couple before too much longer. The price seems reasonable enough, but I’ll have to figure a week where I’ll actually get a chance to watch the video. [boing boing]
Copyright 2008, Dave Polaschek.
Last updated on Mon, 08 Mar 2004 08:29:17.