Size of social networks on FB and in life

The Size of Social Networks: Primates on Facebook (Economist)

Great article on the Economist about the Dunbar number, which sets a rough limit on the number of social connections we humans tend to have. Also fascinating is that the number of intimate social friends we have (~7-10) has been on the decline. Need to read Bowling Alone at some point.

RIght-wing Koch family may have sponsored Santelli's "spontaneous" populist rant

Backstabber: Is Rick Santelli High on Koch

Interesting - Playboy does investigative reporting? Seriously, evidence emerging that Santelli's rant was pre-planned and funded by the Koch family in an effort to undermine the Obama administration.

Reminds me of the VP debate, when Biden says he learned as a young legislator that questioning the motives of his colleagues was offensive and counterproductive, but questioning their judgment was always legitimate and absolutely necessary. Here may be a case when the judgment is legitimate, but the motives are more complex.

Update: The Atlantic Business Channel takes apart the article, and has a copy of the text (now removed from Playboy's website). Looks like there might be concern about libel charges. Still not sure if Santelli is innocent or not - what is clear is that it probably was premeditated at the very least with his contract renewal in mind.

Death of a Salesman, 2009

For some reason, I started to think about Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller. I came across that play in my junior year of high school. For whatever reason, it has remained the single piece of American literature that comes to mind - more than Huck Finn, more than To Kill a Mockingbird.

I remember watching Brian Dennehy play Willy Loman in a production in L.A. I'd bought tickets for my Mom as a gift. I was a little disappointed that she fell asleep during one of the Act One monologues, and even began snoring quietly. I'm glad she joined me in any case.

Robert Ballard trash talks NASA

Robert Ballard on Colbert Report

I love Robert Ballard. I grew up with his books on the Titanic, the Bismarck, and the Isis. I must have read the first two about 80 times each.

I also have a friend working for Bob Ballard in Rhode Island on underwater archaeology.

So I was unpleasantly surprised when I saw him trash talk NASA on the Colbert Report on Feb 10, 2009.

Admittedly, he makes a lot of good points. Because of maritime law, which guarantees countries owning habitable land exclusive economic zones (EEZs) 200 miles offshore, there is a lot of real estate that the US knows precious little about.

But why make NASA your whipping boy? And why attribute it to quasi-religious needs to become closer to God than historical/economic reasons stemming from the Cold War and the importance of satellite systems to the modern economy?

On a side note, in a conversation I had with a member of the National Academy of Sciences staff, he said that astronomers are the whiniest constituency of scientists fighting for NSF budgets. Maybe Ballard knows something I don't.

Happy VD!

This is late.

Here's hoping you're not.

Senate votes to invoke cloture on stimulus bill

In case you hadn't heard, the Senate passed a cloture motion on S.Amdt.570, the Senate Amendment to H.R.1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (stimulus bill).

Senate Vote count:

61 yea
26 nay
2 not voting

Party line (Dems and Independents voting Yea, GOP voting Nay, with following exceptions:

Collins (R-ME) Yea
Cornyn (R-TX) Not voting
Gregg (R-NH) Not voting * Note - this is Obama's pic for Secretary of Commerce!
Snowe (R-ME) Yea
Specter (R-Me) Yea

Note that the Senate will vote on the bill proper sometime Tuesday.