Busy, busy…

Some of the great kids I'm working withFor those of you who might have noticed I haven’t written anything here recently, here’s what has been going on.

The last two months have been spent pretty much all with robotics. So much so, that I haven’t been skiing this winter at all. One day out to Holimont has been all I have done.

The robotics team finished their build season and we worked furiously up until the last minute when we had to seal up the robot in a big plastic bag until our regional competition in Pittsburgh. We spent the last weekend working on it at the Kenan Center, our local recreational center, where they let us use some space to practice and work on the robot while school was closed for part of the spring break. Continue Reading…

The Varsity Sport of the Mind

Team 1507 with 2011 RobotThis next Saturday, January 8th, 2011, will be the Kickoff for the 2011 season of the FIRST Robotics Competition.

In case you’re not familiar with this program, you can learn a lot about it at the official website of FIRST or you can watch the kickoff ceremonies Saturday. I’d urge you to do both, if you’re curious about it. Continue Reading…

More on bike taillights

Left: Dinotte 140R-AA Right: Cateye LD-1100After a couple months, I finally broke down and bought the Dinotte 140R bicycle tail light. It is by far, the brightest LED tail light available and has been shown to be effective, even during daylight, in being seen by cars approaching you from the rear. The light is painfully bright, so much so that it gets attention other lights don’t get. Maybe it’s curiosity, maybe it’s annoyance, but drivers wake up and give you a wide berth when they see it. Video of the lights is at the end of this post.

Some other innovative bicycle lights have come across my computer screen. I haven’t tried any of them, but they are worth considering if you’re in the market for such a thing. Continue Reading…

One Tribe

Once again, NY State and the Seneca Nation seem to be headed towards a conflict over collecting taxes on sales made on the reservation. I don’t know who’s right here, I can see both sides and don’t see a mutually agreeable way out.

I have the utmost respect for the Native American culture and beliefs. Unfortunately, I don’t see where exploiting a situation where certain commodities prices have become high, in part due to taxes, should be exploited for the profit of a few Native Americans. That’s not what we should learn from their culture. Maybe it’s what they’ve learned from ours…

And just what is a “Native American” anymore, anyway? I was born here. My parents were too. So were my Grandparents. I don’t know how many generations I would have to go back to actually find an ancestor from Europe. Am I as much a “Native American” as some blonde-haired, blue-eyed person who has a Great-great-grandmother that was born on a reservation? Continue Reading…

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