I believe it was Scott Adams, author of Dilbert, that said "Change is good. You go first."

So 2008 is finally over. If one thing defined this year it is change. It was one of those years that worked like a hinge in history. One of those years we will remember for decades like 1929 or 1968.

Lets just remember a few of the ways the world changed in the last year:

- The economy broke. The world faces the worst market now since the Great Depression.

- The price of gas went up past $5 in some places over the summer. Everyone suddenly realized how dependent we are on oil. People started driving less and used public transit.

- Now oil's crashed back to the $2 range. Oil-producing nations like Russia are suddenly bankrupt.

- On a related note, the great American auto makers finally hit what could very well be the nails in their coffins.

- Since I mentioned Russia, its worth bringing up they're back in style like 80's music. They kicked the Georgian army out of South Ossetia without asking anyone if it was okay. Honestly, I think the Georgians started it but the whole war shows that Russia is now back in the habit of doing whatever the hell they want.

- The new Iraqi government grew some balls and asked the US to get of their country, arranging an agreement that would have US troops out by 2011.

- Fidel Castro stepped down as President of Cuba, handing power to his brother Raul.

- The Chinese economic bubble finally burst. What a hang over from the Olympics, eh?

- People outside of Alaska suddenly realized how fucked up that state is.

- American voters selected a President that is not only a Democrat but who also speaks out against partisanship and actually listens to people who disagree with him. If you ask me, it was a sound rejection of the politics of division that have dominated the country for decades.

- Oh yeah, and did I mention he's black?

On the smaller scale (bits that only matter to the readers of this blog who know me personally):

- I graduated from college and moved away from Bellingham.

- Jamie and Emlyn divorced and moved to different cities.

- Riley moved away.

- My grandmother passed away on Christmas Eve.

- Sam and Riley broke up and found new people to act gross with within a few months

- I became a Mac snob after being a Linux snob for about a year.

- Heath Ledger died. It was the best thing that could have happened to his career. I didn't even know who he was before he died. Now I've seen Ten Things I Hate About You, A Knight's Tale, Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight. The man got no press when he was alive, and now he's a big deal.

I came across this little gem of a Web site today.

It's called Ground Zero, and it combines Google Maps with data regarding the yield of nuclear weapons. All you need to do is give it an address and select a specific type of nuclear weapon and it will display the destruction such a nuke would do.

I spent a good portion of my afternoon nuking a whole bunch of major cities across the country. If I have learned one thing today it is that although all nukes are truly terrifying, they are not created equal. There is a big difference between dropping a Hiroshima or Nagasaki-sized nuke on a city and the worst that humanity could do.

The above image is what would happen if a Fat Man, the 21 kiloton bomb that destroyed Nagasaki, went off next to the Space Needle. There are no buildings standing within the inner-most circle. Everything out to the second circle is on fire if it is still standing. The next two circles represent areas of declining structural damage to buildings and severe burns to people who happen to not be wearing all white today.

Not fun, but Fat Man is an air bubble in an uncovered bowl of chili in the microwave compared to what we can do with today's arsenal.

Above is the remains of Seattle after a B61, a smallish modern American H-bomb weighing in at 340 kt, went off. The destruction goes as far away as the U-district and West Seattle. According to the source of all lies, this is the most common nuclear weapon in the American arsenal.

Lets just go completely nuts...

Tsar Bomba was the largest nuke ever detonated. Although no one actually has anything that big in their arsenal these days (its easier to use like ten smaller nukes than one big one) it gives a sense of the destruction we are capable of. Destruction reigns from Tacoma to Everett, and from North Bend to the Olympics. This one nuke could kill almost half of the population of Washington.

Consider this my holiday gift to you.

Via Wired