Andrew R Gross

One of these dogs is a mutt, and the other is a purebreed. One is a model of health, and the other is ... a purebreed. If you aren't aware, the process of dog breeding is controversial.  On one hand, most of us love the products of breeding: the lovable Golden Retriever, the fearsome German Shepard, the whimsical Dachshund.  Unfortunately, these breeds can only exist so long as we continue to mate two dogs of the same breed to make a litter of new breed members, and the unpleasant truth is that we know that in doing so we're promoting birth defects.  It's long past time we thought about how to improve this practice. Dog breeds are defined by kennel clubs like the American Kennel Club (AKC) and the Westminster Kennel Club (WKC).  These clubs hold shows where judges assess which dog looks most like the kind of dog it is supposed to be, and these winners go on to sire puppies who will carry forward the noble blood line of the breed.  The concept makes simple sense.  

If you've read this blog for a while -- a long  while -- you might know that I have been working on an underwater ROV on and off for more than a year.  This is another update. The good is that last year, I had a crude body for the Remotely Operated Vehicle.  It had propellers that were hooked up to a battery and spun.  It had a microcontroller that told them when to spin.  It had a Raspberry Pi single board computer to receive instructions over a USB tether and send them to the microcontroller.  And I had a program that would read data from a joystick over a long USB cord.  I finally thought that I just about had some kind of system I could put in water and drive around with a controller. Not so fast. The defining feature of an underwater ROV is that it goes underwater.  Which means that the electronics need to be inside of a waterproof enclosure.  And since radio waves don't travel underwater*, there needs to be a cable that passes from the user outside of the

I finished my How-To guide describing how I made my Captain America Jacket.  I'm thrilled with the result, because my goal was to make a jacket that I could wear outside of traditional costume-appropriate situations, and it worked.  I wore the jacket to several social events last weekend, and got numerous compliments.  To my surprise, quite a few people recognized that it was a Captain America-themed jacket.  I don't know if that was inference or recognition of the costume it's based on, but I love it. Instructables Guides: Captain America / U.S. Agent Artificial Leather Jacket Captain America Shield Harness & Belt

I have a new prediction. I think that Kim will agree to fully denuclearize in exchange for America's complete military withdrawal from South Korea. He'll agree to periodic inspections by the UN Atomic Energy Comission in exchange for a complete end to sanctions. He'll add in programs to allow families increased ability to visit one another across borders and favorable trade opportunities between North Korea, South Korea, and China. Trump and Bolton and company will refuse to accept any deal in which the US leaves South Korea.  South Korea, however, will see a deal too good to pass up.  South Korea will tell the US that if the US doesn't agree to the deal, South Korea is going to be forced to publicly break from the US and eject them. The US will come to some compromise, perhaps withdraw all but 5,000 troops over 10 months, while insisting that it was their complete decision to do so.  Even so, Trump and co. will refuse to relax sanctions on North Korea and p

Tony wrote a novel.  It's an Iron Man novel, naturally, but it's really a stellar product that stands up whether you like the comic book character or not.  It's not confined to the typical superhero genre, either.  It's a psychological thriller with science fiction elements. archiveofourown.org/works/13791474 Check it out.  It's GOOD.