07:43 – Well, that’s interesting. I put up the main page for the CK01B chemistry kits on Saturday, but haven’t done any other promotion or announcement and we’re already getting orders for it. I hope those back-ordered test tube racks arrive today so we can build another couple dozen quickly.
10:56 – Wow. Talk about hazardous materials. This article reports that a Louisiana company is facing criminal charges for illegally storing three kilotons of nitrocellulose. The headline characterizes the nitrocellulose as “explosive”, which may or may not be true in the sense that that implies “high explosive”. Whether or not nitrocellulose can detonate depends on the degree of nitration and other factors. But one thing is certain: at a minimum, nitrocellulose burns very, very fast, so this is “explosive” at least to the same extent that black powder is explosive. I can’t believe anyone would store 6 million pounds of the stuff anywhere near a town, but this company apparently did.
12:41 – If you ever doubted that François Hollande is a moron, here’s proof: French president’s plan to write off homework draws criticism. With Hollande and others like him “managing” the euro crisis, it’s no wonder that things have gone from worse to horrible, with no good end in sight. For that matter, this pretty much sums up what’s wrong with France in general: a gigantic, hideously expensive, intrusive government that attempts to dictate all aspects of people’s lives. Stalin would have been proud.