Greg In The Desert

• Slaying fuels debate over speed cameras in Arizona – Doug Georgianni, 51, was killed on April 19, as he operated a speed-enforcement van on a Phoenix freeway. Thomas Patrick Destories, a 68-year-old Phoenix man, is being held in Maricopa County jail on a first-degree murder charge in the death. He has declined to comment.

  Authorities haven't said what they believe the motive might be, but said the two men had never met. Many simply assume the killing was the latest and most extreme backlash against Arizona's photo-enforcement program.

• Chandler Motorola site has new buyer – The prime 153-acre Motorola site on Price Road once again has a buyer.

  A contract has been signed by an out-of-town investor, said Christine Mackay, Chandler's director of economic development.

• Demand for Intel Atom processors slowing – Demand for Intel's Atom netbook processors has begun to slow down as the netbook market faces price-cut competition from low-end notebooks as well as the launch of CULV-based notebooks, according to market sources.
• Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (Eng. /ˈmɒntəˌskju:/; 18 January 1689 in Bordeaux – 10 February 1755), was a French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Era of the Enlightenment. He is famous for his articulation of the theory of separation of powers, taken for granted in modern discussions of government and implemented in many constitutions throughout the world. He was largely responsible for the popularization of the terms feudalism and Byzantine Empire.
• Southwest adds jobs as most airlines cut – New Mexico Business Weekly: – Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) was one of the few major carriers to add employees in the latest period. Southwest grew its work force by 1,473 workers in the year-to-year February period and has more than 35,543 workers total.
• English Russia » Russian Pilot Making Photos 9/11 Flying Above NYC – Here is a shocking story of Russian pilot, now living in the USA who was on the air 9th September 2001 and have made photos right from the air when planes crashed the WTC.
• Geosmin – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – Geosmin, which literally translates to "earth smell", is an organic compound with a distinct earthy flavour and aroma, and is responsible for the earthy taste of beets and a contributor to the strong scent that occurs in the air when rain falls after a dry spell of weather (petrichor). The human nose is extremely sensitive to geosmin and is able to detect it at concentrations as low as 5 parts per trillion.
• Apartment Therapy The Kitchn | Weeknight Recipe: Easy Homemade Macaroni and Cheese – This is the mac n' cheese that we grew up on – creamy sauce, chewy pasta, and don't spare the cheese! This was way before "fat" was a dirty word, but we still can't think of anything else we'd rather have at the end of a long day. Just call it an occasional indulgence and grab yourself a bowl!
• ReelzChannel premiers ABQ headquarters – New Mexico Business Weekly: – Maltin just taped the first episode of his show, “Secret’s Out,” in New Mexico, and there will be many more to follow. The network that created his show, ReelzChannel, opened its new headquarters Thursday at Albuquerque Studios. Maltin’s first show will feature an interview with Gov. Bill Richardson about the film industry and will discuss a film made in New Mexico in 2003, “Off the Map.”
• EDITORIAL: MADD about regulation – Washington Times – President Obama's pick to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration raises a few red flags. If confirmed by the Senate, Chuck Hurley, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, will drive motorists over the cliff with regulation.

• AAA weighs warning drivers about Ariz. speed cameras
  AAA is in the early stages of an unusual process that would designate parts of Arizona a “strict enforcement area” because of the proliferation of speed cameras, possibly creating the largest such area in the nation. 

  A strict enforcement area is a designated location set by AAA to remind drivers to be especially careful and obey the speed limit. This information would be included on AAA member materials, including state maps.

• Major cities lost 1.2M jobs in ‘08 – New Mexico Business Weekly:
  The nation’s major labor markets lost nearly 1.2 million jobs last year according to a new bizjournals analysis. Albuquerque lost 1,600 jobs.
• The Home Improvement Ninja: House Updates
  In other news, mice have once again invaded the ninja fortress. I set up traps for them and killed six (apparently it was a small crack squad of mice). I haven’t seen any in about a week and the last couple of mice were really small (babies actually) so I think I killed them all. I have a 100 pair box of rubber proctologist gloves that I use to get rid of the dead mice because I have a “thing” about germs. When my girlfriend first spied the box, she eyed me suspisciously and eventually mocked me mercilessly, but who’s laughing now?
• An Unsettling Discovery
  We sat down to wait. Later, the tech informed us that Dr. E. was with Zoey, and shortly after than we were ushered into an exam room. Dr. E. explained that Zoey had a mass, that it was large and firm, and that Zoey was in pain, but very stoic during the examination. She recommended that we have X-rays, bloodwork and an aspiration biopsy.

  We agreed.

• Bloomberg.com: Buy Cisco, Intel, U.S. Technology Shares, Faber Says
  Investors should buy U.S. technology stocks after prices fell near the lows reached after the dot-com crash in 2000, investor Marc Faber said. 

  Cisco Systems Inc., Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Oracle Corp. shares will outperform U.S. Treasuries over the next five to 10 years, Faber, managing director of Hong Kong-based investment firm Marc Faber Ltd. and publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, said in a Bloomberg Radio interview today.

• Rachael Ray Show – Food – Chicken Parmigiano With Polenta
  (tags: recipes)
• Intel will design PlayStation 4 GPU – The Inquirer
  FOR THE NEXT next generation of consoles, PS4, XBox3 and Wii2, it looks like Intel is in, Nvidia is out. The picture for their GPUs is starting to become clear.

  Yeah, Intel won the PS4 GPU, no shock considering how much they needed a console win to get people coding for Larrabee

• Google and Amazon to Put More Books on Cellphones – NYTimes.com
  Also Thursday, Amazon said that it was working on making the titles for its popular e-book reader, the Kindle, available on a variety of mobile phones. The company, which is expected to unveil a new version of the Kindle next week, did not say when Kindle titles would be available on mobile phones. 

  “We are excited to make Kindle books available on a range of mobile phones,” said Drew Herdener, a spokesman for Amazon. “We are working on that now.”

  (tags: news google)
• Pink Visual Offers Compensation for ‘Superbowl Porn’ Mishap – MSNBC Wire Services – msnbc.com
  Adult entertainment studio Pink Visual announced today that it is offering its Tucson, Arizona-area customers $10 off subscriptions to its flagship mobile and “mega pass” adult sites to compensate Comcast customers who might have wanted to see the rest of the porn movie that interrupted Sunday’s Superbowl broadcast.
  (tags: funny tv)
• Tesla’s San Jose plans stall – Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:
  The Zanker Road location no longer works because it’s an undeveloped “greenfield site,” and Tesla would build on it from scratch. The federal loan program favors “brownfields,” sites on which factories or plants closed years ago and need to be rehabilitate
• How to Layout Recessed Lighting
  One of the most important principles to understand when designing a recessed lighting layout is beam angle. In recessed cans, the light is produced in the shape of a cone. You picture the light starting as a point at the light fixture and forming a circle on the floor. The beam angle is the angle of this light out of the bulb. For example a 60-degree beam angle will produce a circle of light about 9 feet across on the floor if the fixture is 8 feet off the floor. See a
• AIG, Citi deals gave U.S. Treasury least value: report
  The U.S. Treasury Department bank bailout program received the least value from its investments in the most troubled surviving institutions — American International Group and Citigroup, a new report from a watchdog panel showed on Friday.

Red light cameras, speed vans and human patrols. All things that contribute to Albuquerque turning up as number 7 on the National Motorists Association (NMA) top 10 list for speed traps. I’m really not surprised to see Albuquerque on the list, and yet I still think I there’s never a cop around when you need one. In other words, the speed traps are probably needed.

It also says something about my driving record as I’ve never had a speeding ticket in the 10 years I’ve lived here. Doesn’t mean I haven’t been lucky. I’ve been pulled over twice for not stopping at a stop sign. When I first moved here I had long hair and was driving around in the Maverick. I was pulled over by a cop that was two cars ahead of me for not wearing my seat belt. The Maverick only had lap belts and how could he see when he was two cars ahead of me? I never got a ticket for any of these incidences. I did have two speeding tickets when I lived in Arizona.