Chris Carosa

The Speed of Light

By Chris Carosa on October 13, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the October 11, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

One hundred and eighty six thousand miles per second. It takes light about one and one-third seconds to go from the Earth to the Moon. We know this because scientists have shot lasers at the reflectors the Apollo astronauts left on the lunar surface. The Moon orbits at a distance of 240,000 miles from the Earth.

One hundred and eighty six thousand miles per second. The light emitted from our Sun has aged a little over eight minutes by the time it hits the Earth. The Earth circles the Sun from a span of 93 million miles away.

One hundred and eighty six thousand miles per second. That’s equal to nearly six trillion miles in one year. We refer to this distance as one light-year. The nearest star (Proxima Centauri) looms a mere 4.3 light-years from our Solar System. That translates to just Continue Reading “The Speed of Light”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Alpha Centauri, Apollo, distance to moon, distance to Sun, Einstein, ether, Galilean Transformation, Galileo, light-year, Michelson, Michelson-Morley, Morley, Newton, Principia, Proxima Centauri, Relativity, science fiction, Speed of light, Theory of Relativity, wave-particle duality

Who Owns Your Data?

By Chris Carosa on October 7, 2011

Towards the end of the day, I finally rediscovered how to use Twitter on my Blackberry. Then I discovered I could retweet faster than I could type. Since a lot of folks had similar ideas to mine, retweeting became the most efficient method for me to get those ideas out of my head and into the Twittosphere known as #SMACSRIT.

#SMACSRIT was the hashtag for the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Social Media and Communication Symposium (SMACS) II, a lively, entertaining and enlightening event held on – at least what started out as – a rainy Thursday on September 29, 2011. I could write about each session, but, perhaps bowing to the behavioral phenomenon called “recency” – the tendency to overweight the last thing seen – I’ll focus on the final keynoter, who posed an intriguing question while Continue Reading “Who Owns Your Data?”

Posted in It's a Nerd's World Tagged facebook, Maggi Fox, Mark Zuckerberg, recency, RIT, Rochester Institute of Technology, SMACSRIT, Social Media and Communications Symposium II, Social Media Group

EDITORIAL

By Chris Carosa on October 6, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the October 4, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]
No Carosa Commentary appeared this week. In its place appeared an unsigned Editorial concerning the school budget vote.

Next Week #79: Taxes, Social Spending and Recessions (originally published on September 27, 1990)
Next Week #81: The Speed of Light (originally published on October 11, 1990)

[What is this and why is here? See Interested in Discovering My Time Machine? for more details.]

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries

Taxes, Social Spending and Recessions

By Chris Carosa on September 29, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the September 27, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

There’s a demon looming on the horizon. It hasn’t been around for a long, long time, but it’s there. People have been talking about it for a few years, though it remains just beyond the edge of our view. Some folks have even said it’s been seen, yet only by limited regions of the country and only for a short time.

Nobody knows how bad this demon will be. Nobody’s even sure if the demon will show its face. Still others will argue the demon stands in our midst now.

The evil has an evil aura about it. People fear the very thought of it, even those who Continue Reading “Taxes, Social Spending and Recessions”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged class warfare, economics, economy, Grace Commission, politics, recession, social spending, tax, taxes

… On Vacation, Back Next Week…

By Chris Carosa on September 22, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the September 20, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

I lied. I’m not on vacation. I won’t be back next week. I was on vacation last week. I did come back this week. Welcome to the wonderful world of newspaper deadlines. Normally, I would have written this last week, but I couldn’t because I was on vacation. I’ll be back next week, though.

Confused? Just wait ‘til you read the rest of this…Continue Reading “… On Vacation, Back Next Week…”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Growing Up, writing

My Lunch with Pearl Bailey

By Chris Carosa on September 15, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the September 13, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

I used to always ride the train. An unnatural fear caused me to seek every opportunity to avoid flight. Yes, yes, I know all the actuarial tables say flying is the second safest form of transportation (after elevators). In that portion of my life when time seemed less important (namely, both during and immediately after my collegiate years), I viewed the train as the preferred method of travel.

The train relaxed me. It allowed me to read. It permitted me to get up and walk around. It provided the opportunity to be alone or discover new friends, depending on my mood. Most importantly, it forced me to slow down. Once I boarded the train, I knew I would next step Continue Reading “My Lunch with Pearl Bailey”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Growing Up, Pearl Bailey, train, Yale

Saddam’s Savage State

By Chris Carosa on September 8, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the September 6, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

Over 1,500 years ago, the great Roman civilization succumbed to the barbarian forces of the north. As the Huns swept down, the monuments of the Roman Empire crumbled. The invaders destroyed ancient buildings, killed innocent women and children, looted Christian graves and promptly left when they got bored.

These men had more in common with Continue Reading “Saddam’s Savage State”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Daniel Ellsberg, Dark Ages, Greece, Huns, Iraq, Kuwait, Middle East, Roman Empire, Rome, Ronnie Kovic, Saddam Hussein, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Western Civilization

A Sense of Belonging

By Chris Carosa on September 1, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the August 30, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

Certain environments intimidate me quite easily. I attribute my dread to breeding (and possibly genetics). From the point we first become socially aware until we are finally released from the protective custody of family, we absorb mere echoes from the outside world. Yet until we embark into society alone do we genuinely rethink the axioms of our naïve view of the universe.

Growing up infuses a sense of culture in each of us. Not only do we place ourselves Continue Reading “A Sense of Belonging”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged College, Freshman, Growing Up

Double Sessions

By Chris Carosa on August 25, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the August 23, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

The early mornings of late August forebode the coming end of summer. A slight chill remains above the heavy wet grass until the sun gets high enough to melt the dew. Take a deep breath and you will notice the smell of the season has changed. The dry dustiness has been replaced by a soft gentle odor reminiscent of spring.

Late August mornings encourage us to Continue Reading “Double Sessions”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged football, Gates Chili, Growing Up

More Silly Thoughts

By Chris Carosa on August 18, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the August 16, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

In a continuing effort to entertain, which gets more and more difficult in August (namely because Congress goes on vacation), we proudly present more in a series of silly thoughts. As before, we remind the gentle reader the following contains no natural boundariess and represents free and unassociated thinking.

The Stereo. Why does the stereo always stop playing the music you put on just when you’re finally relaxed and ready to Continue Reading “More Silly Thoughts”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged David Souter, Fay Vincent, George Steinbrenner, Orioles, Red Wings, Rosanne Barr, southern accents, Star Spangled Banner, stereo, television commercials