November 13, 2015 evening

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Good evening! It’s Friday and the work-week has come to an end. Currently a blustery 47 degrees with the wind whipping around here in Albany and the rain has held off. Darn cold. Winds are whipping around at 20 miles per hour. But folks in the Tug Hill Plateau region are getting pounded with rain, and some snow flurries. Parts of the Southern Tier are also getting some snow showers. No significant accumulations are expected, and any snow is expected to melt tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s weather is around 53 degrees but it will feel much cooler with clouds and the winds whipping around with sustained winds in the upper teens and gusts over 30 miles per hour. The windchill will make it feel about 29 degrees. You’ll want to hold onto your hat. A warming trend is expected for next week, but not as sunny and warm as predicted earlier on.

I’m pretty seriously bummed out about this weekend’s weather. If not for the cloudy skies and frigid windchill I would have wanted to be in the Adirondacks doing some camping, hiking, and hunting. Maybe Sunday. We will see. Maybe we will have a few more snow free weeks. Only God knows.

New Albany County Exec Maps

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Earlier this week, I posted several maps of the 2015 Albany County Executive Primary race. After giving it some consideration, I decided last night to re-render the maps because they were not up to my quality standards. 

I often like to experiment with new features, and while the shadow feature of QGIS can greatly enhance a map, it can also be a bit too much and actually detract from the readability of maps. I took off the shadow and re-adjusted the colors, which seemed to previously be too biased towards Egan over McCoy (the Egan colors were darker on a vote-basis on then McCoy).

I will post the enhanced maps over the next few days. I might experiment with other races. I don’t have a 2014 shapefile, but it looks like I can convert the numbers over relatively easily in Excel to match the EDs, possibly creating Super EDs as neccessary. We will see how nasty the weather is on Saturday, but that’s something I may with further over the weekend if the weather is bad.

Whatever Happened To The 42-Volt Car? .

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Whatever Happened To The 42-Volt Car? .

I think they should go to alternating current for cars, and skip the DC part.

While it's true the battery has be charged at 12 VDC, and the starter requires 12 VDC, it seems like they should just keep the alternator output as AC, and step up or down the voltage as appropriate. AC motors are more reliable and simple.

U.S. Proposes A Ban On Smoking In All Public Housing.

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U.S. Proposes A Ban On Smoking In All Public Housing.

Smoking indoors does a lot of damage to property, by leaving a thick film of soot on the walls and ceilings of buildings. The public shouldn't have to pay for cleaning on public housing due to smokers. Smoking is a disgusting habit due to all the pollution it produces indoors and out, and with all the cigerette butts.

If people want to smoke, they can smoke outdoors, just like they have to do in most other public buildings in most states. You can't light up in a library, an office building, grocery store, or most government buildings anymore.