The cold weather here, while nothing compared to what other places have gotten, got me thinking about the Little Ice Age tonight. This article seems to explore some of the attributed effects quite nicely.

A quick history of the birth of the transistor along with some additional background info.

Finally, when this article first appeared on CNN, its teaser line on the front page read "Possibly dangerous objects still allowed on planes". This again put memories of Irwin Mainway in my head again (he of "Bag o' Glass" fame and great moments of "anything's possibly dangerous," as when he set his own suit on fire.) The real winner in the included list of "things we're allowed to take on planes" has to be "Toy Transformer Robots", good to see the Decepticons are not considered a threat, I guess energon cubes are not highly volatile, but I'm sure we're only a statement from Starscream's Provo Wing away from losing the ability to transport them.