I've been sitting on this one until I could read it. It's an article based on an interview with Joss Whedon. It talks about his history, why he had the credentials to do "The Avengers", and the projects that died or never happened. If nothing else, skim for his contribution to the Alien franchise and the Batman movie that never happened. [link]
Plans for how to make model airplanes from aluminum cans. [link]
A car with fold out wings. You know you've thought about how to make something like this. Maybe not since high school, but it's crossed your mind. [link]
Terry Gross from Fresh Air and an interview gone wrong. May seem a bit long, but stick with it.
The ampersand (&) used to be part of the alphabet. [link]
This paralyzed woman completed a marathon using robotic legs. Think Wallace and Grommet in "The Wrong Trousers". [link]
Black holes don't eat as much as they accrete. [link]
18 year old girl has body and mind of a toddler. [link]
What bothers me is that her mind hasn't developed. What does this mean about brain development? Is 18 years of experience not recorded? Why bother living forever if you can't remember or learn anything?
Here's some people having luck making mice live longer. [link]
They're making the mouse telomeres longer, but in the case of the girl in the previous article her telomeres are shortening normally. So there's something else that needs attention.
A Fallout fan film.
Movie posters if the movies were released decades earlier . [link]
Here is why that famous Van Halen concert tour rider said "no brown M&Ms" explained by a member of the band. [link]
How to make a costume Iron Man style arc reactor. [link]
Huh. The only unmarried American President was gay. Who would have guessed? [link]
Cockroaches wouldn't do as well during a nuclear war as one might think. [link]
Too much body spray can set off fire alarms. [link]
Data collected since the Kennedy administration shows that Democrats are better job creators than Republicans. [link]
I was too young to remember anything about Carter other than that he existed, but everything I've seen from Reagan on puts this study firmly in the DUH! column. Jobs = Democrats. Debt = Republicans.
"We're Trekkies and We Know It" - I wasn't gonna post it, but then I laughed at 2:11.
An animation done to an explanation of how Pixar accidentally deleted Toy Story 2 late in production.
See also [link] and also [other link]
Can you say doomed to fail?
"We want to build a working Enterprise over the next 20 years." [link]
There. I knew you could do it.
Just some random visual gags from the Marvel Universe.
Some day we'll be able to upload ourselves into computers. It will probably go something like this.
Can we call these space stations something OTHER than inflatable? They're going to be enough like a Moon Bounce already. [link]
All new Cave Johnson dialog.
A fact overload about the cartoon "Animaniacs". [link]
The filming of Star Trek 2 has wrapped. Four months of filming and something like a year of special effects before it's released. Am I the only one who has a problem with this? [link]
Catnip PSAs. [link]
There's a myth debunking e-mail filter. Google needs to buy them and put it in their system. [link]
Didn't read it all, but here's an article about blood used in foods. [link]
Have your kids' drawings made into plushies. [link]
Old pictures of Earth. [link]
Gnarliest wave ever to be surfed. [link]
Mid-century garage doors. [link]
Remember that time they found bodies in Ben Franklin's basement? [link]
An interview with one of the leaders of Anonymous. [link]
Whatever happened to Flickr? Same thing that happened to Yahoo. Yahoo happened. [link]
A bunch of economists were asked, given $75 billion, how do you save the world? [link]
I don't check John Scalzi's site nearly as much as I did when I had an office. I've been relying on my other sources to point out particularly good posts. In this one he tries to explain how much easier straight white men have it than any demographic that varies from that. He does it by saying that in the game of life Straight White Male is the lowest difficulty setting. It contains links to follow-up posts. [link]
Why the Star Trek universe is secretly horrifying. [link]
The sandwich is 250 years old. [link]
In general, that is. The sandwich as a concept. Not a specific sandwich. Ok, maybe that one I saw for sale at the gas station... No, that was 180-190 at most.
Look! Camels that must get their hair cut by the same person as that guy I saw on the subway last week! [link]
The Immortal - a collection of life support machines that keep each other alive. [link]
Need some cheap maps? The USGS is having a sale! [link]
Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior. [link]
The real question, are they unethical because they're rich or are they rich because they're unethical?
Some spiders hunt in packs. Don't try to sleep tonight. [link]
2 1/2 year old meets a robot dinosaur.
Recursive Drawing - watch the video before you start drawing. [link]
Friday, May 18, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Mimi the cat
I regret to say there's another cat that we need to find a home for. Her name is Mimi and the apartment complex she lives in has imposed a $300/month fee for keeping a pet. That kind of expense is too much for her owner to handle so Mimi needs to find a new home.
Her owner describes her as "a very loving cat, loves alot of attention. Very well mannered cat."
I got to meet Mimi once. At first she ran off because of the sudden introduction of strangers to her house. Within a minute she was peeking into the room. Once she got a chance to look us over she came right back and rolled on the ground by us. Yummy got to pet and snuggle Mimi. I scooped her up and scratched her ears. I remember thinking she was rather small. Not a 16 pounder, for sure. She really is a sweetheart and seems like she'd adjust to a new home fairly well.
We're looking for someone to take her. Please, ask around. Forward this blog post to friends, coworkers, people you wish to annoy, anyone you know who is a soft touch. We need to find this kitty a home.
We'll be going to St Louis in a week. We can deliver to someone living between Baltimore and St Louis as long as they're not an absurd distance from I-70. Or, if someone in St Louis would like a kitty for a wedding gift, we can totally do that, too.
Her owner describes her as "a very loving cat, loves alot of attention. Very well mannered cat."
I got to meet Mimi once. At first she ran off because of the sudden introduction of strangers to her house. Within a minute she was peeking into the room. Once she got a chance to look us over she came right back and rolled on the ground by us. Yummy got to pet and snuggle Mimi. I scooped her up and scratched her ears. I remember thinking she was rather small. Not a 16 pounder, for sure. She really is a sweetheart and seems like she'd adjust to a new home fairly well.
We're looking for someone to take her. Please, ask around. Forward this blog post to friends, coworkers, people you wish to annoy, anyone you know who is a soft touch. We need to find this kitty a home.
We'll be going to St Louis in a week. We can deliver to someone living between Baltimore and St Louis as long as they're not an absurd distance from I-70. Or, if someone in St Louis would like a kitty for a wedding gift, we can totally do that, too.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Sod Off Wednesday: May 16
It is now legal to marry your cousin in North Carolina, but not someone of your own gender.
You know what the voters of North Carolina can do.
You know what the voters of North Carolina can do.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Schlock Mercenary
You've heard me talk about Schlock Mercenary before. Pretty much every time there's another book or I list my webcomics. First I want to talk about the author/illustrator.
Howard Taylor is living the dream. I don't mean he has a big house or is rolling in money or has hot and cold bikini babe dispensers in his house. He had a job that was stressing him out. One day, with no artistic ability beyond knowing which end of a pencil did the line making, he started cartooning. It started with simple gags, simpler art, short stories, and a kitchen table. As time went on his drawing got better and the stories more involved. He tried to keep doing some kind of punchline each day but dumped the kitchen table. I wrote to him a couple of times offering to layout books for him, but he gave me a pass. He wasn't ready, yet. When he was ready there came the books, the string of Hugo nominations, and the ability to quit the thrice damned job that started him on this road. So when I say he's living the dream I mean he hangs out in a comic book store all day drawing a daily cartoon that he owns the rights to and that supports the one woman (from the hot tap) and four kids waiting for him at home. And he once again gets to enjoy what he liked about engineering before his old job turned it dark and evil.
I'd be happy supporting the comic just for the reasons stated above. It's the flip side of avoiding Tom Cruise or Mel Gibson movies because they're batshit crazy. But the comic is what got me reading in the first place.
Schlock Mercenary is about a company of intergalactic mercenaries. They don't stick with one employer. They don't always work willingly. They don't always get to keep the same ship. In fact, one of their old ships is now the head of an interstellar hive mind empire, but that's a long story.
The company is commanded by a man named Kaff Tagon. He embodies the military mind while maintaining an understanding of the grunts mind. He's not what you'd call a brilliant strategist, but he understandsThe Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries, an oft quoted credo that one learns either by book or is beaten into you by experience if you survive the beating.
A central character and significant source of funding for the company is Schlock. If you're being polite he resembles what happens when the soft serve ice cream machine won't shut off. If you're not then he resembles the floor of an elephant's pen both in shape, color, and composition. Some people just want to watch the world burn. Schlock loves these people. More specifically, he loves the excuse they give him to play with ridiculously overpowered, ominously humming weaponry.
Making up for the brains lacked by the captain or chief carbosilicate amorph is Kevyn Andreyasn, the company scientist. Some would freely apply the adjective "mad" to his title. Everyone else would do so quietly. Kevyn is really quite brilliant. Some of his inventions would get him compared to folks like Robert Oppenheimer of the Manhattan Project. They would also wish his work was ONLY that destructive. There has been at least one major war fought because of his inventions. More if you don't count all the resulting conflicts as part of that same war.
There's plenty of other cast that come and go. Kevyn's sister is a business woman and admiral. The standard sci-fi crotchety old doctor got replaced with a bipedal hourglass. As time went on the exclusively human crew became populated with creatures that are alien enough that it becomes hard to criticize the author for variable proportions. And between major story arc there are lawyers that are fortunate to survive for three panels.
If you've ignored my previous suggestions to check out the comic I'm going to repeat my insistent demands yet again. But, well, remember how I said Terry Pratchett needed a couple of books before Discworld got good? Same thing here. It's not just me. When Howard put out his first book he didn't go to the beginning of the archives. In fact, he started with book three. That's either a lack of confidence in his early work or an inability to count we haven't seen since George Lucas decided to make a space opera. In accordance to the wishes of his marketing department, I'll point you to the beginning of book three [link].
Before I finish I'd like to make an appeal to Taylor and associates. If you're not going to send me a free book I'd really like to see a return of the scientific footnotes to the comics. Those were one of the things that helped hook me in the first place.
Howard Taylor is living the dream. I don't mean he has a big house or is rolling in money or has hot and cold bikini babe dispensers in his house. He had a job that was stressing him out. One day, with no artistic ability beyond knowing which end of a pencil did the line making, he started cartooning. It started with simple gags, simpler art, short stories, and a kitchen table. As time went on his drawing got better and the stories more involved. He tried to keep doing some kind of punchline each day but dumped the kitchen table. I wrote to him a couple of times offering to layout books for him, but he gave me a pass. He wasn't ready, yet. When he was ready there came the books, the string of Hugo nominations, and the ability to quit the thrice damned job that started him on this road. So when I say he's living the dream I mean he hangs out in a comic book store all day drawing a daily cartoon that he owns the rights to and that supports the one woman (from the hot tap) and four kids waiting for him at home. And he once again gets to enjoy what he liked about engineering before his old job turned it dark and evil.
I'd be happy supporting the comic just for the reasons stated above. It's the flip side of avoiding Tom Cruise or Mel Gibson movies because they're batshit crazy. But the comic is what got me reading in the first place.
Schlock Mercenary is about a company of intergalactic mercenaries. They don't stick with one employer. They don't always work willingly. They don't always get to keep the same ship. In fact, one of their old ships is now the head of an interstellar hive mind empire, but that's a long story.
The company is commanded by a man named Kaff Tagon. He embodies the military mind while maintaining an understanding of the grunts mind. He's not what you'd call a brilliant strategist, but he understands
A central character and significant source of funding for the company is Schlock. If you're being polite he resembles what happens when the soft serve ice cream machine won't shut off. If you're not then he resembles the floor of an elephant's pen both in shape, color, and composition. Some people just want to watch the world burn. Schlock loves these people. More specifically, he loves the excuse they give him to play with ridiculously overpowered, ominously humming weaponry.
Making up for the brains lacked by the captain or chief carbosilicate amorph is Kevyn Andreyasn, the company scientist. Some would freely apply the adjective "mad" to his title. Everyone else would do so quietly. Kevyn is really quite brilliant. Some of his inventions would get him compared to folks like Robert Oppenheimer of the Manhattan Project. They would also wish his work was ONLY that destructive. There has been at least one major war fought because of his inventions. More if you don't count all the resulting conflicts as part of that same war.
There's plenty of other cast that come and go. Kevyn's sister is a business woman and admiral. The standard sci-fi crotchety old doctor got replaced with a bipedal hourglass. As time went on the exclusively human crew became populated with creatures that are alien enough that it becomes hard to criticize the author for variable proportions. And between major story arc there are lawyers that are fortunate to survive for three panels.
If you've ignored my previous suggestions to check out the comic I'm going to repeat my insistent demands yet again. But, well, remember how I said Terry Pratchett needed a couple of books before Discworld got good? Same thing here. It's not just me. When Howard put out his first book he didn't go to the beginning of the archives. In fact, he started with book three. That's either a lack of confidence in his early work or an inability to count we haven't seen since George Lucas decided to make a space opera. In accordance to the wishes of his marketing department, I'll point you to the beginning of book three [link].
Before I finish I'd like to make an appeal to Taylor and associates. If you're not going to send me a free book I'd really like to see a return of the scientific footnotes to the comics. Those were one of the things that helped hook me in the first place.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Play Review: Young Frankenstein
No movie this weekend. Instead we saw the touring production of "Young Frankenstein: The Musical".
If you haven't seen the movie then I should tell you a bit about it. It's not about Frankenstein when he was young. It's about his grandson, who has spent his life trying to live down his grandfather's reputation, being pulled, grudgingly, into the world of reanimating dead tissue from a Transylvanian castle. It's a comedy.
For the rest of you let me tell you about it.
We didn't get the regularly scheduled Frederick Frankenstein. Instead there was some guy who bore a striking resemblance to a young Martin Short. But, given that handicap, he was able to channel Gene Wilder several times during the performance.
Igor... well, he was not Marty Feldman. Nobody can be Marty Feldman. Although, I felt that the guy cast as the village idiot could have done a decent job. So did they, apparently. The playbill listed him as a stand in for Igor. The guy playing Igor when we went didn't come off as Igor so much as he did a slapstick version of Death from "The Seventh Seal".
The Creature was fantastic. Looked a whole lot like the Peter Boyle version and acted like him, too. And the highlight of the movie turned out even better on stage. The "Puttin' on the Ritz" part lasted the whole song with extra singing and dancing and some scat from The Creature.
I keep comparing the actors in the play to those in the movie. I don't mean to say it has to be done the same to make a good play. But when it was done right the first time it's hard to do anything but compare. Still, there was enough new material or scenes that were significantly different for the actors to shine on their own. The play explained what happened to the arm and the leg of that townfolk's constable. And there was a pretty good song and dance number with all the Frankenstein ancestors. Those aren't the only things, but it's 11:30 at night.
The tickets were expensive. I could have gotten cheaper seat and gone for general admission, but I was taking Yummy and I wanted good seats. What those tickets paid for was more than just the song and dance routine. The sets were impressive. I doubt the stage could have handled more backdrops. Many of the props seemed to just appear and disappear. Sometimes the stage was dark, but often they'd just get you looking at one thing while things changed elsewhere on stage. It was very well done. But when you need at least four semis to move the sets and costumes from city to city it better be.
Almost forget. Much of the cast, at least the secondary characters, had their microphones on their foreheads. They had to get off stage, change outfits, and get back on stage as a different person quickly and repeatedly. Putting the mic on their clothes would have been a problem. This fixed it, but made everyone look a bit like Clark Kent.
I'm glad that I saw this, but if I were doing it over I'd get the cheaper seats.
If you haven't seen the movie then I should tell you a bit about it. It's not about Frankenstein when he was young. It's about his grandson, who has spent his life trying to live down his grandfather's reputation, being pulled, grudgingly, into the world of reanimating dead tissue from a Transylvanian castle. It's a comedy.
For the rest of you let me tell you about it.
We didn't get the regularly scheduled Frederick Frankenstein. Instead there was some guy who bore a striking resemblance to a young Martin Short. But, given that handicap, he was able to channel Gene Wilder several times during the performance.
Igor... well, he was not Marty Feldman. Nobody can be Marty Feldman. Although, I felt that the guy cast as the village idiot could have done a decent job. So did they, apparently. The playbill listed him as a stand in for Igor. The guy playing Igor when we went didn't come off as Igor so much as he did a slapstick version of Death from "The Seventh Seal".
The Creature was fantastic. Looked a whole lot like the Peter Boyle version and acted like him, too. And the highlight of the movie turned out even better on stage. The "Puttin' on the Ritz" part lasted the whole song with extra singing and dancing and some scat from The Creature.
I keep comparing the actors in the play to those in the movie. I don't mean to say it has to be done the same to make a good play. But when it was done right the first time it's hard to do anything but compare. Still, there was enough new material or scenes that were significantly different for the actors to shine on their own. The play explained what happened to the arm and the leg of that townfolk's constable. And there was a pretty good song and dance number with all the Frankenstein ancestors. Those aren't the only things, but it's 11:30 at night.
The tickets were expensive. I could have gotten cheaper seat and gone for general admission, but I was taking Yummy and I wanted good seats. What those tickets paid for was more than just the song and dance routine. The sets were impressive. I doubt the stage could have handled more backdrops. Many of the props seemed to just appear and disappear. Sometimes the stage was dark, but often they'd just get you looking at one thing while things changed elsewhere on stage. It was very well done. But when you need at least four semis to move the sets and costumes from city to city it better be.
Almost forget. Much of the cast, at least the secondary characters, had their microphones on their foreheads. They had to get off stage, change outfits, and get back on stage as a different person quickly and repeatedly. Putting the mic on their clothes would have been a problem. This fixed it, but made everyone look a bit like Clark Kent.
I'm glad that I saw this, but if I were doing it over I'd get the cheaper seats.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Friday Links: May 11
At a recent geek convention in Calgary they had the cast of Star Trek: TNG together for a 25th anniversary thing. In this video from that convention Wil Wheaton makes you tear up a bit.
Using camera technology similar to that used for the "bullet time" shots in "The Matrix", these people did some light painting. [link]
How to build a laser Zippo lighter. [link] [video]
What happens if you stick your hand in the beam of the LHC?
A TARDIS shawl complete with instructions. [link]
Avengers themed eye make-up. [link]
A chemist's tea set. [link]
The designer of the Hitler's Volkswagon was a Jew. [link]
A cat with backwards legs gets them surgically corrected.
WARNING: Animal lovers may be horrified by the picture and video. [link]
Pictures of an octopus killing and eating a seagull. [link]
Real world inspiration for some Simpsons characters. [link]
Greatest Craigslist car ad ever. [link]
Plant/animal hybrids. [link]
Power has effects similar to cocaine. [link]
The new World Trade Center isn't done, but it is once again the tallest building in New York City. As one cartoonist said "It's a shame Bin Laden couldn't be here to see this."
Here's some pictures of the construction. [link]
Tennessee has piled idiocy on top of idiocy by adding a "gateway sexual activity" bill on top of their horrible failure of an abstinence-based sex ed program. [link]
A motorcycle washed out to sea by the tsunami that hit Japan turned up on the shore of British Columbia and was returned to it's owner. [link]
Temporary e-mail addresses. [link]
Hillary Clinton was offered a cameo in "The Muppets". Here's the letter she wrote to turn it down. [link]
If realists were in charge of US foreign policy. [link]
How to detect useless political articles. [link]
How to repair books. [link]
In 1989 an address appeared in a Spiderman comic that was supposed to be the home of Peter Parker and his Aunt May. There are actual Parkers living in that house. There's an Osborne living next door. [link]
You can make shopping carts lock up with your car stereo. [link]
Stephen King article - Tax Me for F*** Sake. [link]
The Pentagon pulled it's support from The Avengers because Marvel couldn't point to where SHIELD belonged in the chain of command. [link]
The author of "Where The Wild Things Are" passed away. [link]
An excuse to get a signet ring. [link]
Let's just say it: The Republicans are the problem. [link]
A safety pin memory stick. [link]
Despite recent research honeybees colonies are still dying. [link]
America's economic suicide. It's long. I haven't finished it yet. [link]
31 uses for beer. [link]
The great aurora storm of 1859. It allowed the telegraph system to work for two hours without batteries. [link]
A driving test that requires texting while driving.
Name a style of music you hate and someone has to find a song to change your mind. Hopefully I'll get to listen to the country section soon. [link]
Shipping container homes. [link]
Abbey Road webcam. [link]
Make your own concrete planter molds from stuff in your recycling bin. [link]
It's a ... a ... thing.
More evidence of water found on Mars. Ancient water. Not terribly exciting really. Other than to say settlers will be able to use the gypsum to make their own sheetrock. [link]
Trippy. [link]
A 3D print of one of the Portal 2 multi-player characters. [link]
These are your kids on books. [link]
Cat vs fish.
If I Were A Core (parody of "If I Were A Boy" which I've never heard)
David Tennant has to light the Olympic torch. To save time, of course! [link]
A fingernail bruise growing out. [link]
A guy using a lathe to turn a jawbreaker into a shot glass.
Justice League toy movie trailer.
Live action Skyrim short film.
Oh, thank god. I thought I'd never get through all that.
Using camera technology similar to that used for the "bullet time" shots in "The Matrix", these people did some light painting. [link]
How to build a laser Zippo lighter. [link] [video]
What happens if you stick your hand in the beam of the LHC?
A TARDIS shawl complete with instructions. [link]
Avengers themed eye make-up. [link]
A chemist's tea set. [link]
The designer of the Hitler's Volkswagon was a Jew. [link]
A cat with backwards legs gets them surgically corrected.
WARNING: Animal lovers may be horrified by the picture and video. [link]
Pictures of an octopus killing and eating a seagull. [link]
Real world inspiration for some Simpsons characters. [link]
Greatest Craigslist car ad ever. [link]
Plant/animal hybrids. [link]
Power has effects similar to cocaine. [link]
The new World Trade Center isn't done, but it is once again the tallest building in New York City. As one cartoonist said "It's a shame Bin Laden couldn't be here to see this."
Here's some pictures of the construction. [link]
Tennessee has piled idiocy on top of idiocy by adding a "gateway sexual activity" bill on top of their horrible failure of an abstinence-based sex ed program. [link]
A motorcycle washed out to sea by the tsunami that hit Japan turned up on the shore of British Columbia and was returned to it's owner. [link]
Temporary e-mail addresses. [link]
Hillary Clinton was offered a cameo in "The Muppets". Here's the letter she wrote to turn it down. [link]
If realists were in charge of US foreign policy. [link]
How to detect useless political articles. [link]
How to repair books. [link]
In 1989 an address appeared in a Spiderman comic that was supposed to be the home of Peter Parker and his Aunt May. There are actual Parkers living in that house. There's an Osborne living next door. [link]
You can make shopping carts lock up with your car stereo. [link]
Stephen King article - Tax Me for F*** Sake. [link]
The Pentagon pulled it's support from The Avengers because Marvel couldn't point to where SHIELD belonged in the chain of command. [link]
The author of "Where The Wild Things Are" passed away. [link]
An excuse to get a signet ring. [link]
Let's just say it: The Republicans are the problem. [link]
A safety pin memory stick. [link]
Despite recent research honeybees colonies are still dying. [link]
America's economic suicide. It's long. I haven't finished it yet. [link]
31 uses for beer. [link]
The great aurora storm of 1859. It allowed the telegraph system to work for two hours without batteries. [link]
A driving test that requires texting while driving.
Name a style of music you hate and someone has to find a song to change your mind. Hopefully I'll get to listen to the country section soon. [link]
Shipping container homes. [link]
Abbey Road webcam. [link]
Make your own concrete planter molds from stuff in your recycling bin. [link]
It's a ... a ... thing.
More evidence of water found on Mars. Ancient water. Not terribly exciting really. Other than to say settlers will be able to use the gypsum to make their own sheetrock. [link]
Trippy. [link]
A 3D print of one of the Portal 2 multi-player characters. [link]
These are your kids on books. [link]
Cat vs fish.
If I Were A Core (parody of "If I Were A Boy" which I've never heard)
David Tennant has to light the Olympic torch. To save time, of course! [link]
A fingernail bruise growing out. [link]
A guy using a lathe to turn a jawbreaker into a shot glass.
Justice League toy movie trailer.
Live action Skyrim short film.
Oh, thank god. I thought I'd never get through all that.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Automatic hair washing machine
You may wonder why they'd build a machine like this. Seriously, how hard is it to shampoo someone's head? A lot of the robot technology being developed in Japan these days are for the growing elderly boom. There's not a large enough population of non-elderly to take care of all the elderly. So they're making robots to carry stuff, perform simple tasks, and powered exoskeletons to help them walk or carry their own stuff. These hair washing machines are for use in hospitals and nursing homes.
More than that, they mark another step in developing dynamic robots. On an assembly line robot arms fly all over a car's frame putting parts in place and welding. But they go to the exact same place every time. They have trouble doing things different. Welding is fine, but putting a bolt into place without cross-threading them is still pretty tricky. Humans, and their heads, come in all shapes and sizes. A robot designed to wash my hair would end up hurting or maiming many other people. These robots adjust to the shape of your head so they don't crush your skull or pull out your hair.
As nifty as these robots are, I think I'd miss having that chesty stylist massaging my scalp.
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Sod Off Wednesday: May 9
Pastors that advocate punching and humiliation and bullying of children who don't behave how their narrow worldview says they should need to [omitted] and sod off.
TRANSCRIPT: "So your little son starts to act a little girlish when he is four years old and instead of squashing that like a cockroach and saying, “Man up, son, get that dress off you and get outside and dig a ditch, because that is what boys do,” you get out the camera and you start taking pictures of Johnny acting like a female and then you upload it to YouTube and everybody laughs about it and the next thing you know, this dude, this kid is acting out childhood fantasies that should have been squashed.
Can I make it any clearer? Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give him a good punch. Ok? You are not going to act like that. You were made by God to be a male and you are going to be a male. And when your daughter starts acting to Butch you reign her in. And you say, “Oh, no, sweetheart. You can play sports. Play them to the glory of God. But sometimes you are going to act like a girl and walk like a girl and talk like a girl and smell like a girl and that means you are going to be beautiful. You are going to be attractive. You are going to dress yourself up.”
You say, “Can I take charge like that as a parent?”
Yeah, you can. You are authorized. I just gave you a special dispensation this morning to do that."
TRANSCRIPT: "So your little son starts to act a little girlish when he is four years old and instead of squashing that like a cockroach and saying, “Man up, son, get that dress off you and get outside and dig a ditch, because that is what boys do,” you get out the camera and you start taking pictures of Johnny acting like a female and then you upload it to YouTube and everybody laughs about it and the next thing you know, this dude, this kid is acting out childhood fantasies that should have been squashed.
Can I make it any clearer? Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give him a good punch. Ok? You are not going to act like that. You were made by God to be a male and you are going to be a male. And when your daughter starts acting to Butch you reign her in. And you say, “Oh, no, sweetheart. You can play sports. Play them to the glory of God. But sometimes you are going to act like a girl and walk like a girl and talk like a girl and smell like a girl and that means you are going to be beautiful. You are going to be attractive. You are going to dress yourself up.”
You say, “Can I take charge like that as a parent?”
Yeah, you can. You are authorized. I just gave you a special dispensation this morning to do that."
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
Department of Acquisitions: Commodore 64
I have a memory of being at Grammie's for some family get together or other. I forget the age, exactly, but I'm pretty sure that while walking was no longer the achievement that it once was, it was something that still needed some fine tuning. Gathered around the TV was much of the family. And there was a game being played on it. "Centipede" I think. And maybe "Lunar Lander". It belonged to my uncle, El Cid, father to the oft mentioned Muffinmen. It was a Commodore 64 and may have been my first exposure to personal computers. If not the first then damn close.
Yummy got this for me. It needed power cables and some sort of data storage device. That's what got me on the most recent Ebay addiction that resulted in all these new acquisitions for the museum.
I've hooked it up. It does work. I just need some software for it. I'm working on that.
I feel that I should note that Commodore, LLC is still in existence. They released a Commodore 64 replica that runs modern software. When "Thief 4" finally comes out I'll be looking to them first for a Windows machine. You can get yours at http://www.commodoreusa.net/CUSA_C64.aspx.
Yummy got this for me. It needed power cables and some sort of data storage device. That's what got me on the most recent Ebay addiction that resulted in all these new acquisitions for the museum.
I've hooked it up. It does work. I just need some software for it. I'm working on that.
I feel that I should note that Commodore, LLC is still in existence. They released a Commodore 64 replica that runs modern software. When "Thief 4" finally comes out I'll be looking to them first for a Windows machine. You can get yours at http://www.commodoreusa.net/CUSA_C64.aspx.
Monday, May 07, 2012
Movie Review: The Avengers
This was a fantastic movie. I will be getting it on DVD. I may get 3 or 4 so I can watch it on several screens at once. It seems likely that I may see it in theaters again. Seriously, an awesome movie.
If you've missed the Hulk movies, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America you've already missed some damn fine movies, but there's not a lot that you need to know coming into "The Avengers". Here's a quick list for those who have missed the movies. Where things differ from what you may have seen on TV or in comics is explained by the fact that Marvel has multiple universes. These movies occur in Universe 199,999.
During WWII the US Army had a Super Soldier program that they intended to use to make their soldiers faster, stronger, more durable, with a great healing factor. Steve Rogers was the test subject. When it succeeded the Nazi's killed the lead scientist and the man who knew how everything worked. This left Captain America as the only success. His plane crashed into Arctic waters where he froze and was recently rediscovered and revived.
Doctor Bruce Banner was working on rediscovering the Super Soldier serum by using Gamma rays. A lab accident caused him to be irradiated. Now whenever he loses control of his temper he transforms into The Hulk. Bruce Banner hides from society so he won't hurt anyone, or better yet, change.
Tony Stark is a billionaire, genius who owns Stark Industries, former weapons manufacturer for the world. A terrorist attack left a shard of metal in his chest that is trying to burrow it's way into his heart. It is held out by an electromagnet powered by an arc reactor that he invented in a cave in Afghanistan. This reactor also powers a suit of battle armor that he wears to become Iron Man.
Thor is a god.
The hypercube is more commonly known to comic book readers as The Cosmic Cube. It is a source of power far beyond mere electricity, but that's not important right now. The Red Skull used it during WWII to power weapons for his organization - H.Y.D.R.A.
Black Widow and Hawkeye have no particular powers outside of being extremely good at what they do. She's a spy, martial artist, sniper. He's an archer.
Again, you want to see this movie.
It doesn't fall into the trap that the Mission Impossible movies (and so many others) did of having one member of the team being central to the movie and the rest being crap. Everyone has a role, even those who didn't get their own movie. They all get their moments to shine and to screw up. They bicker among themselves, they fight each other, but they become friend and pull together when needed.
The action sequences make sense. They don't shake the camera so much that it's all a blur that covers up bad special effects or the fact that they can't write action. You can see what's happening.
It's hilarious. Remember what I said before about Joss being able to write banter? Remember what I said about him writing action scenes as opportunities to crack joke. All of that. A lot. Very little of it seeming forced. And it compliments the action instead of upstaging it.
You will laugh, you will cheer, you will applaud, and you will gasp. You and everyone else in the room. Most of all, you will sit through the credits. ALL of the credits.
Friday, May 04, 2012
Friday Links: May 4
Mozart wrote a song called "Lick Me In The Ass". [link]
This guy is going to sky dive from the edge of space. He'll break the sound barrier on the way down. [link]
We've all heard about him. This is the Japanese soldier who kept fighting WWII for 30 years after Japan had surrendered. [link]
6 great crossovers. [link]
Opening today is a story from Marvel Comics Universe 199,999. You know it better as "The Avengers". [link]
An extinct animal has been cloned. Not perfectly, apparently. [link]
Too bad I got an Atari 400 instead of an Atari 2600. With a 2600 I could play Halo. [story] [making of] [flash version of the game]
Mars - where the soil is red and the sunsets are blue. [link]
Google has a mad science lab. [link]
Documentation of the fact that the founding fathers (of the United States) were not christians. [link]
Haven't watched it yet, but here's videos from the White House Correspondents' Dinner. [link]
This guy is going to sky dive from the edge of space. He'll break the sound barrier on the way down. [link]
We've all heard about him. This is the Japanese soldier who kept fighting WWII for 30 years after Japan had surrendered. [link]
6 great crossovers. [link]
Opening today is a story from Marvel Comics Universe 199,999. You know it better as "The Avengers". [link]
An extinct animal has been cloned. Not perfectly, apparently. [link]
Too bad I got an Atari 400 instead of an Atari 2600. With a 2600 I could play Halo. [story] [making of] [flash version of the game]
Mars - where the soil is red and the sunsets are blue. [link]
Google has a mad science lab. [link]
Documentation of the fact that the founding fathers (of the United States) were not christians. [link]
Haven't watched it yet, but here's videos from the White House Correspondents' Dinner. [link]
Thursday, May 03, 2012
don't stress the computer
My computer is nearing the end of a week long task. If my computer reboots the task would have to start over. So I'm trying not to use it much. It often goes multiple weeks without a reboot, but when it does reboot it's always at an inconvenient time. So I'm not saying much today and Friday Links is likely to be sparse.
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Sod Off Wednesday: May 2
I spent yesterday with a show called "Afterworld" streaming from Netflix. It follows this guy who was in New York on business when the world ended. Actually some 99%+ of the population vanished and all the electronics stopped working. He tries to make it back to his family in Seattle. Along the way he makes friends and enemies and slowly begins to uncover a conspiracy surrounding what actually happened and who caused it. He gets to Seattle, returns home, and the series ends with a cliffhanger.
SOD OFF "AFTERWORLD!"
Here's the YouTube link, but you're really gonna want something like Netflix that gives you 13 episodes of 20+ minutes each instead of something like 150 episodes of 3 minutes each.
SOD OFF "AFTERWORLD!"
Here's the YouTube link, but you're really gonna want something like Netflix that gives you 13 episodes of 20+ minutes each instead of something like 150 episodes of 3 minutes each.
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Movie Review: The Pirates! Band of Misfits
They said this movie would be based on the book "The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists." That was a lie. I've read the book in question and beyond the inclusion of pirates, a guy based on Charles Darwin, and a monkey who holds signs, there was next to nothing in common. Certainly not the story.
Some changes should be expected. Movies are a much more visual format than books. Heck, movies are a much more visual format than television. I can have TV shows on in the background while working and still know what's happening. I can't do that with movies. I end up missing a lot and having to rewind. Anyway, The Pirates! movie is full of gags that just couldn't be pulled off in a book. So you have to give them credit for making a funny movie instead of just retyping the book. But, I rather liked the gag from the book where the pirates where Bellamy sent them to the far side of the world on a bullshit quest. On the other hand, this movie had some Darwin gags that weren't in the book. And since Gideon Defoe wrote both the movie and the book I don't think I have a damn thing to bitch about.
Uh... did I have a point when I started this? Maybe about how it's not a proper Aardman Entertainment pictures without Nick Park? No... that wasn't it. But this was as close as one would get without his involvement. Maybe about how the end credits should have said
The Pirate Who Produced ... Susan Breen
The Pirate Who Wrote the Music ... Theodore Shapiro
The Pirate Who Made Models ... Kerry Dyer
No. That wasn't it either.
Anyway, good movie, probably gonna get it on DVD. Go read the damn book - it's short.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Department of Acquisitions: Atari 400
When I was about seven years old1 or so my parents got my brother an I an Atari 400. With it they got two cartridges: Pacman and BASIC (spelled Basic from here out). The idea being that if we wanted to play anything other than Pacman we'd have to write it ourselves. The idea worked. I got several books with games and some stories that had games dropped in the middle of them. Of course, back then there was Dartmouth Basic, Altair Basic, BBC Basic, Basica, Atari Basic, Apple Basic, GW-Basic, QBasic, Tiny Basic, and who knows how many others. Any book of programs that I'd pick up had games of who knows what Basic that were pretty much guaranteed not to work on our system. So I learned, at the age of eight or so, how to debug other people's programs. What is it they're trying to do? Is my Basic capable of doing that? Then make it so.
At some point ours stopped working and went on a shelf. I took it down years later to open it up and found that all the circuit pathway, which were simply massive, had cracked and boiled. Eventually, I remembered my brother and the neighbor kid using the Atari as part of the structure for their Hot Wheels track to run down. They would also occasionally use speaker magnets instead of Hot Wheels.
Anyway, I got a new one. Two new ones actually. One doesn't display properly, but the seller thinks it should be an easy fix. The other displays, but some games won't play and others lock up the system. But Pacman works!
1 I had previously said five because this system was released in late 1979. I see now that Pacman was released for this system in 1982.
At some point ours stopped working and went on a shelf. I took it down years later to open it up and found that all the circuit pathway, which were simply massive, had cracked and boiled. Eventually, I remembered my brother and the neighbor kid using the Atari as part of the structure for their Hot Wheels track to run down. They would also occasionally use speaker magnets instead of Hot Wheels.
Anyway, I got a new one. Two new ones actually. One doesn't display properly, but the seller thinks it should be an easy fix. The other displays, but some games won't play and others lock up the system. But Pacman works!
1 I had previously said five because this system was released in late 1979. I see now that Pacman was released for this system in 1982.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Friday Links: April 27
The DOJ's case against Apple and publishers to fix e-book prices. [link]
Texts from Dog. [link]
Nightmare fodder: a big ass spider eating a big ass snake. [link]
Wind turbine blimp-type thing.
The original Leisure Suit Larry is being remade and modernized with 100% Sierra Games veterans. It's not gonna suck like the last few did.
Which state is the most horrible... politically that is. [link]
"Hot Problems (Hot Girls Have Problems Too)" is the sort of song I'd have expected to hear on Doctor Demento once upon a time. Only then I'd have thought it was written by some professional humor musician and performed by teenaged girls. It's not going to get radio play. I'm not going to stick it in my music collection. But it deserves a listen if only because these two have the drive to make the song and video instead of just talking about it. Someday that drive is going to take them somewhere.
Or maybe I'm being generous and teenaged girls are as persistent and hard to kill as Conan the Bacterium. [link]
Trailer for "I Know That Voice", a documentary about voice actors.
Monsters in cheap paintings. [link]
Penguins: They're just telling Newt what we're all thinking. [link]
Monet could see into the ultraviolet. [link]
Tennis shoes at sea. No, not the Nikes from the famous capsized ship. Other shoes. [link]
If you managed to get those shoes off the sea floor you can send the shoes to Nike for recycling. [link]
A map of massage parlors that do happy endings. [link]
Highlights of two days of a cat attacking it's automatic food dispenser.
Learn to read Korean in 15 minutes. Understanding may take longer. [link]
It's like "300", but there's only 21 of them and they're sikhs. [link]
36 kinds of Pong. [link]
Super cooled liquid helium is some freaky stuff.
Wanna be an asteroid miner? Fill out an application. [link]
They'll even bring the asteroid to you. [link]
A map that tells you about the makeup of a neighborhood. [link]
Lamar billboard company has been poisoning trees. [link]
A can design that could make Pringles work. [link]
Matchbook art. [link]
Chalkboard art from a coffee shop in Illinois. [link]
A study of the cause of brain freeze. [link]
Game: Super Mario Summary - each level abbreviated to one screen. [link]
If Nick Park (the Wallace and Grommit guy) did a Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. [link]
Much better than what Michael Bay has planned.
Why is the word "ye" used instead of "the" in old British stuff.
An attempt to build a working version of the machine from the Animusic video "Pipe Dream".
The original. [link]
Sonic screwdriver - mark I. It's sonic and it screws. [link]
Everybody needs to stop using this picture in movie posters. [link]
What kind of fucked up test question is this? [link]
This would be a much more acceptable dance for a Star Wars video game.
An interesting fish tank. [link]
Alternate Dalek designs. [link]
Pictures of things exploding with a fast camera. [link 1] [link 2] [link 3]
Waffle furniture. [link]
I haven't listened to this, but I'm assured that I should. [link]
Obituary for facts. [link]
An essay on the Voyager probes from someone who has been there since the beginning. [link]
10 documentary types that need to go away. [link]
Texts from Dog. [link]
Nightmare fodder: a big ass spider eating a big ass snake. [link]
Wind turbine blimp-type thing.
The original Leisure Suit Larry is being remade and modernized with 100% Sierra Games veterans. It's not gonna suck like the last few did.
Which state is the most horrible... politically that is. [link]
"Hot Problems (Hot Girls Have Problems Too)" is the sort of song I'd have expected to hear on Doctor Demento once upon a time. Only then I'd have thought it was written by some professional humor musician and performed by teenaged girls. It's not going to get radio play. I'm not going to stick it in my music collection. But it deserves a listen if only because these two have the drive to make the song and video instead of just talking about it. Someday that drive is going to take them somewhere.
Or maybe I'm being generous and teenaged girls are as persistent and hard to kill as Conan the Bacterium. [link]
Trailer for "I Know That Voice", a documentary about voice actors.
Monsters in cheap paintings. [link]
Penguins: They're just telling Newt what we're all thinking. [link]
Monet could see into the ultraviolet. [link]
Tennis shoes at sea. No, not the Nikes from the famous capsized ship. Other shoes. [link]
If you managed to get those shoes off the sea floor you can send the shoes to Nike for recycling. [link]
A map of massage parlors that do happy endings. [link]
Highlights of two days of a cat attacking it's automatic food dispenser.
Learn to read Korean in 15 minutes. Understanding may take longer. [link]
It's like "300", but there's only 21 of them and they're sikhs. [link]
36 kinds of Pong. [link]
Super cooled liquid helium is some freaky stuff.
Wanna be an asteroid miner? Fill out an application. [link]
They'll even bring the asteroid to you. [link]
A map that tells you about the makeup of a neighborhood. [link]
Lamar billboard company has been poisoning trees. [link]
A can design that could make Pringles work. [link]
Matchbook art. [link]
Chalkboard art from a coffee shop in Illinois. [link]
A study of the cause of brain freeze. [link]
Game: Super Mario Summary - each level abbreviated to one screen. [link]
If Nick Park (the Wallace and Grommit guy) did a Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. [link]
Much better than what Michael Bay has planned.
Why is the word "ye" used instead of "the" in old British stuff.
An attempt to build a working version of the machine from the Animusic video "Pipe Dream".
The original. [link]
Sonic screwdriver - mark I. It's sonic and it screws. [link]
Everybody needs to stop using this picture in movie posters. [link]
What kind of fucked up test question is this? [link]
This would be a much more acceptable dance for a Star Wars video game.
An interesting fish tank. [link]
Alternate Dalek designs. [link]
Pictures of things exploding with a fast camera. [link 1] [link 2] [link 3]
Waffle furniture. [link]
I haven't listened to this, but I'm assured that I should. [link]
Obituary for facts. [link]
An essay on the Voyager probes from someone who has been there since the beginning. [link]
10 documentary types that need to go away. [link]
Thursday, April 26, 2012
real estate
I'm debating getting into real estate.
In Baltimore.
Yeah, I thought you might say that. But, look, investing in real estate takes money. I'm better off than some, but I'm not wealthy. Baltimore is home to lots of cheap property. Seriously. LOTS!
These places I'm looking at are in the $5K-10K range. Then I just put a roof on the place and the property value jumps by $50K. A roof and some walls. Maybe some plumbing. And wiring. But I think that I can bring up the value of the homes more than the cost of materials. If not then I'll find out early and cheaply enough that I can get out without losing a fortune. More like a bad weekend in Vegas.
There's a couple of places I think I can rent out fairly easily. I need to clean and paint, but they can be earning me some money to expand my little empire. Each property isn't gonna be making me a fortune, but a bit here and a bit there should add up over time. And if I do a good job I may have a chance at improving some neighborhoods. Maybe. It's not gentrification if the houses weren't habitable in the first place. Nobody gets tossed out.
I've had some ideas other than renovating.
One idea was to buy and level homes. Clear the lot and sell the land sometime down the road. I'm not entirely sure what I would accomplish that way. Baltimore has plenty of parks and vacant lots. I'd just be grabbing cheap land with the hopes of selling it for more someday while not leaving a rotting eyesore that drags down the neighborhood.
There's city blocks where 75-100% of the homes are boarded up. I put some thought into just buying and leveling the whole block. Put in trees, build a decent house in the middle, and you got a respectable neighborhood of one square block. Use the bricks from the homes you tore down to put a wall around the block and you have a super villain fortress without the expense of having to ship everything to your private volcano.
Or take the bricks from the leveled homes and pile them all up in one lot. Make a pyramid. A monument to urban decay!
I had also considered getting these places rezoned properly and then turning them into farms. Fill a row house with hydroponics and grow food to sell at local markets. Then I'd just have to start a local market.
Yummy had talked about making one into a big chicken coop. So long as I could figure out how to control the smell I really like the idea. We wouldn't pack them in tight like a factory farm. It'd be like the chickens on the farm. They get to run around and scratch and have roosts.
Honestly, my biggest problem with this last idea is needing to find somewhere to sell the food. I like my weekends too much to spend them at farmers markets. It's not that Baltimore has a shortage of restaurants and grocery stores. There's just a very unequal distribution. They're all in Fells Point while the rest of the city gets liquor stores that have some food and chinese/indian or pizza/indian take out.1 I'd love to be the guy who sees a shortage of places to eat in his neighborhood and opens a place. Or, in my case, funds a place that others run for him because he doesn't know what the fuck he's doing.
I had considered focusing my land grabs in one area. Buy, fix, rent, and then provide a cheap place for restaurants or shops to increase the value on my properties. But that's a 30 year plan. Just in time for me to cash out, I suppose.
Have a virtual stroll down these blocks. Tell me this block doesn't need some work. I just don't think these houses will ever be worth the value of the materials needed to bring them up to the level of "slum".
View Larger Map
Tell me that you could live here without a security system that's worth more than the house.
This isn't where hope goes to die. It's where her body was dumped after they beat her to death.
View Larger Map
These are NOT the areas I'm looking at. Maybe down the road, if I ever have the money, I might look at somewhere like that as a project. But I'd be just as likely to raze the area and plant trees as I would be to try to resurrect the area. I'm not asking for a Starbucks, but maybe McDonalds would stop avoiding the area.
1 Baltimore city law requires all eateries to serve indian food in addition to their regular cuisine. Well, I don't know this for a fact, but it stands to reason. Why else would damn near every place we go have an indian section to their menu?
In Baltimore.
Yeah, I thought you might say that. But, look, investing in real estate takes money. I'm better off than some, but I'm not wealthy. Baltimore is home to lots of cheap property. Seriously. LOTS!
These places I'm looking at are in the $5K-10K range. Then I just put a roof on the place and the property value jumps by $50K. A roof and some walls. Maybe some plumbing. And wiring. But I think that I can bring up the value of the homes more than the cost of materials. If not then I'll find out early and cheaply enough that I can get out without losing a fortune. More like a bad weekend in Vegas.
There's a couple of places I think I can rent out fairly easily. I need to clean and paint, but they can be earning me some money to expand my little empire. Each property isn't gonna be making me a fortune, but a bit here and a bit there should add up over time. And if I do a good job I may have a chance at improving some neighborhoods. Maybe. It's not gentrification if the houses weren't habitable in the first place. Nobody gets tossed out.
I've had some ideas other than renovating.
One idea was to buy and level homes. Clear the lot and sell the land sometime down the road. I'm not entirely sure what I would accomplish that way. Baltimore has plenty of parks and vacant lots. I'd just be grabbing cheap land with the hopes of selling it for more someday while not leaving a rotting eyesore that drags down the neighborhood.
There's city blocks where 75-100% of the homes are boarded up. I put some thought into just buying and leveling the whole block. Put in trees, build a decent house in the middle, and you got a respectable neighborhood of one square block. Use the bricks from the homes you tore down to put a wall around the block and you have a super villain fortress without the expense of having to ship everything to your private volcano.
Or take the bricks from the leveled homes and pile them all up in one lot. Make a pyramid. A monument to urban decay!
I had also considered getting these places rezoned properly and then turning them into farms. Fill a row house with hydroponics and grow food to sell at local markets. Then I'd just have to start a local market.
Yummy had talked about making one into a big chicken coop. So long as I could figure out how to control the smell I really like the idea. We wouldn't pack them in tight like a factory farm. It'd be like the chickens on the farm. They get to run around and scratch and have roosts.
Honestly, my biggest problem with this last idea is needing to find somewhere to sell the food. I like my weekends too much to spend them at farmers markets. It's not that Baltimore has a shortage of restaurants and grocery stores. There's just a very unequal distribution. They're all in Fells Point while the rest of the city gets liquor stores that have some food and chinese/indian or pizza/indian take out.1 I'd love to be the guy who sees a shortage of places to eat in his neighborhood and opens a place. Or, in my case, funds a place that others run for him because he doesn't know what the fuck he's doing.
I had considered focusing my land grabs in one area. Buy, fix, rent, and then provide a cheap place for restaurants or shops to increase the value on my properties. But that's a 30 year plan. Just in time for me to cash out, I suppose.
Have a virtual stroll down these blocks. Tell me this block doesn't need some work. I just don't think these houses will ever be worth the value of the materials needed to bring them up to the level of "slum".
View Larger Map
Tell me that you could live here without a security system that's worth more than the house.
This isn't where hope goes to die. It's where her body was dumped after they beat her to death.
View Larger Map
These are NOT the areas I'm looking at. Maybe down the road, if I ever have the money, I might look at somewhere like that as a project. But I'd be just as likely to raze the area and plant trees as I would be to try to resurrect the area. I'm not asking for a Starbucks, but maybe McDonalds would stop avoiding the area.
1 Baltimore city law requires all eateries to serve indian food in addition to their regular cuisine. Well, I don't know this for a fact, but it stands to reason. Why else would damn near every place we go have an indian section to their menu?
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Sod Off Wednesday: April 25
My house can sod off because I don't have a place to put this old fridge I found for sale.
My phone can sod off for taking such crap photos.
My phone can sod off for taking such crap photos.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Movie Review: Mirror, Mirror
What is with fairy tale stuff these days? We've got "Mirror, Mirror" in theaters with "Snow White and the Huntsman" coming soon, as well as "Grimm" and "Once Upon a Time" on TV. What bizarre alignment of planets caused this Mother Goose pile up? Rhetorical question. I with draw it.
SPOILER ALERT! I will be talking about some of the things that made this movie different from every other Snow White story.
It's pretty predictable really. It's a Snow White movie. Even if they made Snow White the villain it wouldn't really be anything new. That isn't to say they didn't try. There were a few elements I hadn't seen before.
I want to give props to them for Snow White's eyebrows. Too much has been made of eyebrows in general and plucking has gotten out of control. Too many actresses looking at their stuff from 10-15 years before and fussing over how big their perfectly normal looking eyebrows were. Yes, a unibrow is not attractive, but the plucker needs to remember that Sharpies do not make for good eyebrow substitutes. Snow has more eyebrow that we're used to anymore and it looks good.
The face in the mirror is the same as the evil queen. It does add an element of her talking to herself, an id and ego thing, that you don't get when some vaguely menacing middle eastern man is looking out. I'm not sure why it seemed to get paler as the movie went on.
The marionette warriors were a nice touch. They came for Snow and the dwarves. We immediately see what they are and how to defeat them, but they're clever and I like how they moved like, well, marionettes.
The Bollywood ending was a surprise. Not sure why since it's right there in the trailer. I'm wondering if it was the idea of Indian director Tarsem Singh or if the studio wanted it put in to try to cash in on uptick in movie rentals by people who want to see the Bollywood musicals.
You don't see many asian dwarves in movies. Now you can say you have.
And if we have Julia Roberts you have to have her crazy laugh. It probably has it's own makeup people.
Just eat the fat guy trying to protect his can of shaving cream and leave the rest of us alone, lady.
The movie itself? It felt like it was started by Terry Gilliam and passed off to someone more acceptable to Disney film makers. It's like elements of the kind of strange Gilliam does remained after someone else tried to make it more silly and someone else tried to make it sweet. Still, it's safe to take your kids to, which I don't think we'll be able to say about the movie with the huntsman.
I enjoyed the movie, and wouldn't object if someone puts in the DVD sometime down the road. But I won't be providing the DVD.
SPOILER ALERT! I will be talking about some of the things that made this movie different from every other Snow White story.
It's pretty predictable really. It's a Snow White movie. Even if they made Snow White the villain it wouldn't really be anything new. That isn't to say they didn't try. There were a few elements I hadn't seen before.
I want to give props to them for Snow White's eyebrows. Too much has been made of eyebrows in general and plucking has gotten out of control. Too many actresses looking at their stuff from 10-15 years before and fussing over how big their perfectly normal looking eyebrows were. Yes, a unibrow is not attractive, but the plucker needs to remember that Sharpies do not make for good eyebrow substitutes. Snow has more eyebrow that we're used to anymore and it looks good.
The face in the mirror is the same as the evil queen. It does add an element of her talking to herself, an id and ego thing, that you don't get when some vaguely menacing middle eastern man is looking out. I'm not sure why it seemed to get paler as the movie went on.
The marionette warriors were a nice touch. They came for Snow and the dwarves. We immediately see what they are and how to defeat them, but they're clever and I like how they moved like, well, marionettes.
The Bollywood ending was a surprise. Not sure why since it's right there in the trailer. I'm wondering if it was the idea of Indian director Tarsem Singh or if the studio wanted it put in to try to cash in on uptick in movie rentals by people who want to see the Bollywood musicals.
You don't see many asian dwarves in movies. Now you can say you have.
And if we have Julia Roberts you have to have her crazy laugh. It probably has it's own makeup people.
The movie itself? It felt like it was started by Terry Gilliam and passed off to someone more acceptable to Disney film makers. It's like elements of the kind of strange Gilliam does remained after someone else tried to make it more silly and someone else tried to make it sweet. Still, it's safe to take your kids to, which I don't think we'll be able to say about the movie with the huntsman.
I enjoyed the movie, and wouldn't object if someone puts in the DVD sometime down the road. But I won't be providing the DVD.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Department of Acquisitions: PacMan
The Dougintology Technology Museum has come into possession of some spiffy things recently. Pictured here is the glass from an old upright Pac-man arcade machine.
Now I need to build a light box to hold it and light it up.
Now I need to build a light box to hold it and light it up.
 |
| Gobbled up from Ebay. |
 |
| It came from something very much like this. |
Friday, April 20, 2012
Friday Links: April 20
Computer issues have resulted in a lot fewer links this week. Sorry.
Many of the greatest breakthroughs in recent medical history are due to one woman who has what appear to be immortal cells. [link]
Many of the greatest breakthroughs in recent medical history are due to one woman who has what appear to be immortal cells. [link]
You've heard of people smoking banana peels, right? This is why. [link]
A brief history of heroin as medication. [link]
Plastic eating fungus. [link]
Now, just to freak you out a bit, imagine if this fungus, or a hardy relative of it, got out in the rest of the world. Imagine this stuff getting into our household wiring and go from there.
Just because he's David Tennant.
Tennant again, recording the voice of Charles Darwin for the upcoming "The Pirates!" movie.
The source code for the Apple ][ version of Prince of Persia has been released for download. [link]
A kitten watching the Pixar short "For the Birds".
The guards are no match for the hero.
The guards are no match for the hero.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Rescue sparrow: lessons learned
Yummy found another sparrow to rescue. It was being very loud and when she went to investigate she found a recently hatched sparrow on the ground. We couldn't find a nest in the nearby trees so the ugly little thing needed to be taken home. But what to feed it at 10:00 at night when all the pet stores are closed? Not everyone has an eyedropper lying around the house. Research indicated that it should be fed something high in protein. Hard cat or dog food softened to mush with milk or water was recommended. They also suggested cutting one end of a popsicle stick down to 1/8 of an inch to serve it up. Yummy wasn't able to get the cat food totally mushed, but it did become soft. She served it up on the blunt end of a shish kebob skewer. And the bird gobbled it right down. The people at the rescue where she dropped the birdie off yesterday morning said the milk was a bad idea. They say the baby bird's stomach is too sensitive for milk. But it has thus far lived through two nights indoors so something is going right.
I should mention how Yummy's conures reacted to her bringing in a baby sparrow. They heard the chirps and became very interested. They started acting differently. Almost paternal. They already feed each other. She felt that Rosie wanted to feed the sparrow. If she wasn't afraid that the sparrow might have some disease or parasite she would have given it over to the conures to care for.
The cat heard the sparrow and had to come investigate this new horror that had been introduced to the house. Upon meeting it face to face Seamus returned to his food dish.
I should mention how Yummy's conures reacted to her bringing in a baby sparrow. They heard the chirps and became very interested. They started acting differently. Almost paternal. They already feed each other. She felt that Rosie wanted to feed the sparrow. If she wasn't afraid that the sparrow might have some disease or parasite she would have given it over to the conures to care for.
The cat heard the sparrow and had to come investigate this new horror that had been introduced to the house. Upon meeting it face to face Seamus returned to his food dish.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Sod Off Wednesday: April 18
I came across this picture some time ago and promptly lost it. I'd been looking for it ever since. What you're looking at is a a listing of how much value each dollar of stimulus puts into the economy.
So tax cuts for everyone pay off a lot more than tax cuts for the rich. Probably because the rich get to spend what they want and extra money won't change that. Their refund is just another number in the bank and is taken out of circulation.
Tax cuts for others usually gets spent either on paying down debt or gets blown like they won a smallish lottery. That money stays in circulation by paying for goods which then goes toward salaries of staff who then respend it on other stuff, and around and around. Eventually it goes back toward the company owners and taxes, but before then a dollar has done more than a dollar's worth of work.
Investments in infrastructure not only gets an improved infrastructure which benefits pretty much everyone, but also has the money going into the pockets of the workers. Again, the workers spend it and the money circulates.
Alright, sure, but unemployment benefits? Food stamps?
An unemployed person with an address is worth more, economically, than a homeless person. It costs less to help a person keep their home than it does to get them a new home once they're on the streets. And when the unemployed person gets a new job they get money circulating and pay taxes back to the government. In the long run the unemployed person pays back to the government what was given and then some. The homeless person, lacking an address and everything else that comes with having a home, has a significantly harder time getting a job. The investment required to get a homeless person back up to where they were before they lost their job is significantly higher and harder to repay than the person who was simply unemployed.
What I've said here is seriously simplified and we've all heard people on different sides of the political spectrum argue the points. That's why I like the chart. It show there is a real world way of evaluating the value of the programs and which ones are worth a damn. This chart tells the supporters of Supply Side Economics (a.k.a. Reaganomics, Voodoo Economics, Trickle Down Economics, Fuck-You-I'm-Rich Economics) that they can all sod off.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Movie Review: 21 Jump Street
I was not a fan of the original "21 Jump Street" TV series. To be fair, I don't think I ever watched a full episode. But pretty much everything I heard about it made it another "90210"-type show mixed with about the worst cop show ever. The fact that it was a hit with every girl in school did little to change this image with me. This was a show to actively avoid. Yummy, however, was a teenaged girl when it was on the air so she fit their demographic exactly and loved the show.
When we heard there was a "21 Jump Street" movie our reactions matched what we thought of the original series. She was excited, I felt great dread. When we saw a poster in the movie theater saying that it would star Jonah Hill our opinions changed. Yummy felt dread while I felt a completely new kind of dread.
Then we saw the trailer.
Holy shit. This movie could be good. Nothing like the original, but really funny.
And it was. Holy shit, I haven't laughed so hard at a movie in years.
It does a good job of setting up an odd couple/buddy cop movie with a high school back story that makes you like and give a damn about them. Then, going back to high school gives them a second chance to get it right while their real job gets in the way. Alright, it's a huge cliche, but they really did do a good job with it. I'd say it's on par with what "Avatar" did with the soldier joins the natives against the evil white developers trope. It helps that for each cliche they exploit they take another one and destroy it. The biggest of which is that popularity is a formula that can be exploited to make anyone popular.
It doesn't matter whether you liked or hated the original, you're going to love this movie.
I'm glad I saw it. I look forward to the sequel. I will be getting it on DVD.
When we heard there was a "21 Jump Street" movie our reactions matched what we thought of the original series. She was excited, I felt great dread. When we saw a poster in the movie theater saying that it would star Jonah Hill our opinions changed. Yummy felt dread while I felt a completely new kind of dread.
Then we saw the trailer.
Holy shit. This movie could be good. Nothing like the original, but really funny.
And it was. Holy shit, I haven't laughed so hard at a movie in years.
It does a good job of setting up an odd couple/buddy cop movie with a high school back story that makes you like and give a damn about them. Then, going back to high school gives them a second chance to get it right while their real job gets in the way. Alright, it's a huge cliche, but they really did do a good job with it. I'd say it's on par with what "Avatar" did with the soldier joins the natives against the evil white developers trope. It helps that for each cliche they exploit they take another one and destroy it. The biggest of which is that popularity is a formula that can be exploited to make anyone popular.
It doesn't matter whether you liked or hated the original, you're going to love this movie.
I'm glad I saw it. I look forward to the sequel. I will be getting it on DVD.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Department of Acquisitions: punch card printing plate
The Dougintology Technology Museum has come into possession of some spiffy things recently. Pictured here us a printing plate for punchcards. You remember your parents or professors talking about writing programs on hundreds, if not thousands, of punch cards and then dropping them and spending a couple of hours putting them in the right order? These aren't them. This particular plate printed punch cards that stored customer order data. It has fields for Product Code, Product Description, Customer Number, Order Number, and on like that. Then there's numbers 0-9 and other numbers at the bottom numbering the columns 1-80.
Now that I've noted the number of columns, I wonder if the fact that these had 80 columns helped determine the width of the dumb terminals that followed or if it was just a coincidence.
In the background you can see Gandolf trying to stay clear of this new menace.
Now that I've noted the number of columns, I wonder if the fact that these had 80 columns helped determine the width of the dumb terminals that followed or if it was just a coincidence.
 |
| Aluminum punch card printing plate for Canadian Industries Ltd. |
In the background you can see Gandolf trying to stay clear of this new menace.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Friday Links: April 13
An article about divers for nuclear reactors. [link]
Recommendations of quality textbooks on various subjects. They're also looking for suggestions. [link]
An article about "Adventure Game Studio" a programming language for designing adventure games. [link]
Download the software. [link]
51% of internet traffic is non-human. [link]
Errors and fallacies of logical thinking. [link]
Game: The Dark Room - sort of like a Choose Your Own Adventure game but with some head yelling at you. [link]
Yep, it really was an extra warm March. [link]
How to avoid bad children's books. [link]
Using Python to build a squirrel shooting auto-turret.
"Titanic" in SUPER 3D!
PAC-MAC: The Fan Film
Matt Groening talks about how he created The Simpsons and where Springfield is located in his mind. [link]
"Skate 3" has some issues with it's physics and clipping.
Bobcat Goldthwait is not dead. And he recently did an AMA on Reddit. [link]
In 1968 an American gold medal winner raised his fist in a Black Power salute when he was receiving his medal. This article talks about that event and how the guy feels about it today. [link]
Woman Picking Fruit in stock photo endorses Al Franken. [link]
After hearing many complaints about the John Derbyshire article I had to hunt it down. Yep. The man is definitely racist. The problem is, if this were published in The Onion instead of a serious magazine, this would be considered satire. [link]
Looking for strong female characters in literature for your kids? Check this list. [link]
Kickstarter allows people to help fund startups, but not invest in startups. Investments by small timers like you and I is illegal. Or, it was. This bill changed that. [link]
Excellent pictorial guide to how this guy made a pipe. [link]
How to make a proper Frito Pie. [link]
You'll want to watch the first 10 seconds of this video. The rest has some good bike stunt work, but the first 10 seconds is the best. [link]
How to whistle with your fingers. [link]
As the ice melts separate arctic species are meeting and merging. [link]
Do not listen to while operating heavy machinery. [article] [song]
A brief history of subversive video remixes. [link]
I wrote a post that I hope to take live next week, but I sent it off for an expert to review. I dropped what I wrote into a writing analysis program called I Write Like. It claims I write like Isaac Asimov.
The bit I wrote about the Baltimore food desert is apparently more like Stephen King.
The Science Friday post? Arthur C Clarke.
Recommendations of quality textbooks on various subjects. They're also looking for suggestions. [link]
An article about "Adventure Game Studio" a programming language for designing adventure games. [link]
Download the software. [link]
51% of internet traffic is non-human. [link]
Errors and fallacies of logical thinking. [link]
Game: The Dark Room - sort of like a Choose Your Own Adventure game but with some head yelling at you. [link]
Yep, it really was an extra warm March. [link]
How to avoid bad children's books. [link]
Using Python to build a squirrel shooting auto-turret.
"Titanic" in SUPER 3D!
PAC-MAC: The Fan Film
Matt Groening talks about how he created The Simpsons and where Springfield is located in his mind. [link]
"Skate 3" has some issues with it's physics and clipping.
Bobcat Goldthwait is not dead. And he recently did an AMA on Reddit. [link]
In 1968 an American gold medal winner raised his fist in a Black Power salute when he was receiving his medal. This article talks about that event and how the guy feels about it today. [link]
Woman Picking Fruit in stock photo endorses Al Franken. [link]
After hearing many complaints about the John Derbyshire article I had to hunt it down. Yep. The man is definitely racist. The problem is, if this were published in The Onion instead of a serious magazine, this would be considered satire. [link]
Looking for strong female characters in literature for your kids? Check this list. [link]
Kickstarter allows people to help fund startups, but not invest in startups. Investments by small timers like you and I is illegal. Or, it was. This bill changed that. [link]
Excellent pictorial guide to how this guy made a pipe. [link]
How to make a proper Frito Pie. [link]
You'll want to watch the first 10 seconds of this video. The rest has some good bike stunt work, but the first 10 seconds is the best. [link]
How to whistle with your fingers. [link]
As the ice melts separate arctic species are meeting and merging. [link]
Do not listen to while operating heavy machinery. [article] [song]
A brief history of subversive video remixes. [link]
I wrote a post that I hope to take live next week, but I sent it off for an expert to review. I dropped what I wrote into a writing analysis program called I Write Like. It claims I write like Isaac Asimov.
The bit I wrote about the Baltimore food desert is apparently more like Stephen King.
The Science Friday post? Arthur C Clarke.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Sod Off Wednesday: April 11
Taxes went in the mail yesterday. The IRS can sod off... just as soon as they cut me a check.
Monday, April 09, 2012
Movie Review: Wrath of the Titans
I wasn't thrilled with the "Clash of the Titans" remake. Even the "RELEASE THE KRACKEN!!!" line, the climax of the movie, was a bit of a let down after the trailers. So I wasn't sure how much I wanted to see a sequel to that movie. It turns out that "Wrath of the Titans" was better than "Clash of the Titans". Of course, I kept mixing up "Clash of the Titans" with "Immortals" which basically told the same story.
In "Wrath of the Titans" the gods have the problem that their power wanes as people stop worshiping them. If their power goes all the things they did with their power comes undone. That and they die. One of the big things that will come undone is the prison holding Cronos. Cronos is the the Titan that sired Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, etc. Zeus is recruiting all the gods and demigods to come help fight Cronos. Perseus is one of the demigods he needs the most help from. Of course, it would be a story if Cronos hadn't offered deals to some of the gods to provide them with immortality that wasn't based on human worship so long as they helped him escape.
Will I get it on DVD? Probably not. But I will greet a third movie with more enthusiasm.
In "Wrath of the Titans" the gods have the problem that their power wanes as people stop worshiping them. If their power goes all the things they did with their power comes undone. That and they die. One of the big things that will come undone is the prison holding Cronos. Cronos is the the Titan that sired Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, etc. Zeus is recruiting all the gods and demigods to come help fight Cronos. Perseus is one of the demigods he needs the most help from. Of course, it would be a story if Cronos hadn't offered deals to some of the gods to provide them with immortality that wasn't based on human worship so long as they helped him escape.
Will I get it on DVD? Probably not. But I will greet a third movie with more enthusiasm.
Friday, April 06, 2012
Friday Links: April 6
The movie police need to confiscate Star Wars from George Lucas before he can screw it up anymore.
No, George, we're not buying it. Just stop. We're not letting you hurt Star Wars anymore.
Here, go mess with Adam Sandler. His last movie won every single category at the Razzies. You can't possibly screw that up any worse. [link]
This guy. He could teach George a bit about story telling.
A collection of this year's online April Fools jokes. [link]
Excerpt from an oral history of Siskel and Ebert. It's got some great gags and insults. [link]
Excerpts from the idiot files of an HR person. [link]
Dinosaur penguin. [link]
8th graders NEED to fail this test. [link]
The GOP war on women. If you don't want to read the whole thing then jump to the last paragraph of page 4 and go from there. [link]
Awhile back I linked to an episode of "This American Life" where some guy talked about going to China and visiting the plants that make Apple products. Unfortunately, he made a lot of it up. So this whole episode of "This American Life" was dedicated to retracting that previous episode. [link]
On a lighter note, Rob Reid, who I'm told is like a modern Tom Lehrer, has an interesting TED analyzing the claims of the cost of video and music piracy.
Meanwhile, people in Hollywood are wondering why people are so opposed to letting them wreck the internet. [link]
Between Monty Python and Faulty Towers John Cleese was in a sketch comedy show called Les Sez. Here are some clips. [link]
Dee Snider of Twisted Sister has a new album of showtunes coming out. Listen to his take on "I Get a Kick Out of You" at the [link].
Yes, you can run a marathon without training. But you will regret it. [link]
If I were a painter this animation would inspire me to paint a picture of Earth that looked something like van Gogh's "Starry Night". [link]
Years ago I read about a guy who had a magnet implanted in his finger. Looks like this guy read the article too and got his own implant with the bonus of the magnet not disintegrating inside him. Here he talks about what the magnet gets him. [link]
Picture: Obama and Uhura. [link]
Final Fantasy is used on Doctor Who. It's super effective! [link]
Neil deGrasse Tyson complained about the star field at the end of Titanic and James Cameron fixed it. [link]
A tornado tossing around semi trailers in Texas. [link]
The 7 most unexpectedly awesome parties ever. [link]
In World War I the threat of wolves became so great that German and Russian forces stopped their fighting long enough to join forces against the wolves. [link]
Everybody sing the 404 song! [link]
A Mario/Portal hybrid that you can apparently download and play after you watch the video. I haven't tried the game yet. [link]
How to grow pineapple plants from pineapple tops. I did this one and let it grow for a couple of years. [link>]
Put a little library in your yard and let neighbors take and leave books as they choose. [link]
I'd like a bit more detail from this video about how to make super capacitors using a CD burner. [link]
Underwater river of hydrogen sulphide. [link]
Metal 100 times lighter than polystyrene. [link]
Rick Santorum hassled a kid who was reaching for a pink bowling ball. [link]
I'm thinking Rick isn't a big supporter of the recent movement against bullying.
Mitt Romney tells an "amusing" tale about laying people off. [link]
And, yes, Obama, too. This article is about the bill that allows the government to disappear people suspected of having terrorist connections. [link]
Animated wind map of the US. [link]
Elephant playing with a smart phone.
A bit about the new Mars rover. [link]
No, George, we're not buying it. Just stop. We're not letting you hurt Star Wars anymore.
Here, go mess with Adam Sandler. His last movie won every single category at the Razzies. You can't possibly screw that up any worse. [link]
This guy. He could teach George a bit about story telling.
A collection of this year's online April Fools jokes. [link]
Excerpt from an oral history of Siskel and Ebert. It's got some great gags and insults. [link]
Excerpts from the idiot files of an HR person. [link]
Dinosaur penguin. [link]
8th graders NEED to fail this test. [link]
The GOP war on women. If you don't want to read the whole thing then jump to the last paragraph of page 4 and go from there. [link]
Awhile back I linked to an episode of "This American Life" where some guy talked about going to China and visiting the plants that make Apple products. Unfortunately, he made a lot of it up. So this whole episode of "This American Life" was dedicated to retracting that previous episode. [link]
On a lighter note, Rob Reid, who I'm told is like a modern Tom Lehrer, has an interesting TED analyzing the claims of the cost of video and music piracy.
Meanwhile, people in Hollywood are wondering why people are so opposed to letting them wreck the internet. [link]
Between Monty Python and Faulty Towers John Cleese was in a sketch comedy show called Les Sez. Here are some clips. [link]
Dee Snider of Twisted Sister has a new album of showtunes coming out. Listen to his take on "I Get a Kick Out of You" at the [link].
Yes, you can run a marathon without training. But you will regret it. [link]
If I were a painter this animation would inspire me to paint a picture of Earth that looked something like van Gogh's "Starry Night". [link]
Years ago I read about a guy who had a magnet implanted in his finger. Looks like this guy read the article too and got his own implant with the bonus of the magnet not disintegrating inside him. Here he talks about what the magnet gets him. [link]
Picture: Obama and Uhura. [link]
Final Fantasy is used on Doctor Who. It's super effective! [link]
Neil deGrasse Tyson complained about the star field at the end of Titanic and James Cameron fixed it. [link]
A tornado tossing around semi trailers in Texas. [link]
The 7 most unexpectedly awesome parties ever. [link]
In World War I the threat of wolves became so great that German and Russian forces stopped their fighting long enough to join forces against the wolves. [link]
Everybody sing the 404 song! [link]
A Mario/Portal hybrid that you can apparently download and play after you watch the video. I haven't tried the game yet. [link]
How to grow pineapple plants from pineapple tops. I did this one and let it grow for a couple of years. [link>]
Put a little library in your yard and let neighbors take and leave books as they choose. [link]
I'd like a bit more detail from this video about how to make super capacitors using a CD burner. [link]
Underwater river of hydrogen sulphide. [link]
Metal 100 times lighter than polystyrene. [link]
Rick Santorum hassled a kid who was reaching for a pink bowling ball. [link]
I'm thinking Rick isn't a big supporter of the recent movement against bullying.
Mitt Romney tells an "amusing" tale about laying people off. [link]
And, yes, Obama, too. This article is about the bill that allows the government to disappear people suspected of having terrorist connections. [link]
Animated wind map of the US. [link]
Elephant playing with a smart phone.
A bit about the new Mars rover. [link]
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Sod Off Wednesday: April 4
 |
I don't know who wrote this, but I'm pretty sure my reaction isn't what they wanted.
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Look what I made
I dislike throwing things away. Many of the projects that end up on here are the result of me trying to find alternatives to sending stuff to the dump. This week it's the result of me cutting back some of the honeysuckle growing between my and the neighbor's yard. It was trying to eat the sign we made in welding class! It had to go. But what do I do with a bunch of vines? Try to make a basket before they harden up? Sure, why not?
I tried to use the method I learned in Scout camp with much less than thrilling results. Having failed that way I started developing my own way of making a basket. I started by making rings out of the vines. You know, make a circle and then start wrapping the vine around itself. To make a good one you may even need multiple vines. After I had five of the same diameter I ran vines through them perpendicular to the plane of the circle. Picture the 5 circles stacked on each other with a gap between them and 6 reasonably stiff vines passing through the edges of the circles. If the vines were long enough I had them complete an arc and come back through the edge of the circle roughly opposite of where it started. Then I just started taking the vines and weaving them through this way and that until the holes between vines were pretty small.
I'd refine the technique before trying it again, but what I got wasn't bad.
If you're seeing this on an RSS feed, there are pictures on the website.
I tried to use the method I learned in Scout camp with much less than thrilling results. Having failed that way I started developing my own way of making a basket. I started by making rings out of the vines. You know, make a circle and then start wrapping the vine around itself. To make a good one you may even need multiple vines. After I had five of the same diameter I ran vines through them perpendicular to the plane of the circle. Picture the 5 circles stacked on each other with a gap between them and 6 reasonably stiff vines passing through the edges of the circles. If the vines were long enough I had them complete an arc and come back through the edge of the circle roughly opposite of where it started. Then I just started taking the vines and weaving them through this way and that until the holes between vines were pretty small.
I'd refine the technique before trying it again, but what I got wasn't bad.
 |
| What started like this... |
 |
| ...became this. |
Monday, April 02, 2012
Bonus Links: April 2
More links that didn't get looked at for Friday.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Muppephone!
Racists didn't like "The Hunger Games". Apparently black people shouldn't have survived the holocaust. [link]
Indian man plants a forest. [link]
Discworld readers may be familiar with the clacks system. They're mentioned in a couple of books and feature prominently in the book and BBC mini-series "Going Postal". Turns out something similar really existed. [link]
Sunrise on Mars. [link]
Obama said to the Russian President that after the election he would have more flexibility to discuss missile defense. Most Republicans went after him for it. Strangely, House Speaker John A. Boehner told those sniping at Obama not to criticize overseas activity. My question is, why are we even talking about building a missile defense system that we know doesn't work unless we know when the missile is being launched, where it's going, there's a tracking devise on it, and there's only one of them. [link
AOL Instant Messenger is unofficially dead. Much like the rest of the company, really. [link]
Microsoft is working on a "universal" translator that speaks in your voice. Being a Star Trek fan, I'm more interested in the technology researcher named Soong. [link]
Say you want to do a Lego project that will get lots of attention. But other people have gone for the low hanging fruit: The Battlestar Galactica, a Star Destroyer, the Enterprise, Minas Tirith... what do you make that nobody has done before, but is nifty enough to get people to forward it around? This guy decided on Commander Adama's command before the Galactica - the Battlestar Valkyrie. [link]
5 movie hacks that can really be done. [link]
Are you using Flash to make a product that brings you money? Adobe wants a 9% cut of that. [link]
Adobe? Flash is dying. Often your products are memory hogs that makers of portable devices don't want around. Do you really want to drive away people who insist on using your product by making them pay MORE to use it?
The effects of microwaves on a plasma TV. He's exposing it to a microwave transformer. 15 minutes.
Jumping robot.
Quad-rotor musicians.
Quad-rotor remote control DeLorean.
The script for Bill and Ted 3 is done. Now they need the studio to approve it. [link]
A Japanese parakeet and it's best friend.
What the tip of a drill sees. [link]
The Avengers trailer done with 60's art.
1,000 small theaters to close in the next few years because they can't convert to digital. [link]
Evidence that humans can hibernate? [link]
The first attempted assassination of a US President. [link]
10 really old things that still work. My favorite is #7, the traffic light. [link]
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Muppephone!
Racists didn't like "The Hunger Games". Apparently black people shouldn't have survived the holocaust. [link]
Indian man plants a forest. [link]
Discworld readers may be familiar with the clacks system. They're mentioned in a couple of books and feature prominently in the book and BBC mini-series "Going Postal". Turns out something similar really existed. [link]
Sunrise on Mars. [link]
Obama said to the Russian President that after the election he would have more flexibility to discuss missile defense. Most Republicans went after him for it. Strangely, House Speaker John A. Boehner told those sniping at Obama not to criticize overseas activity. My question is, why are we even talking about building a missile defense system that we know doesn't work unless we know when the missile is being launched, where it's going, there's a tracking devise on it, and there's only one of them. [link
AOL Instant Messenger is unofficially dead. Much like the rest of the company, really. [link]
Microsoft is working on a "universal" translator that speaks in your voice. Being a Star Trek fan, I'm more interested in the technology researcher named Soong. [link]
Say you want to do a Lego project that will get lots of attention. But other people have gone for the low hanging fruit: The Battlestar Galactica, a Star Destroyer, the Enterprise, Minas Tirith... what do you make that nobody has done before, but is nifty enough to get people to forward it around? This guy decided on Commander Adama's command before the Galactica - the Battlestar Valkyrie. [link]
5 movie hacks that can really be done. [link]
Are you using Flash to make a product that brings you money? Adobe wants a 9% cut of that. [link]
Adobe? Flash is dying. Often your products are memory hogs that makers of portable devices don't want around. Do you really want to drive away people who insist on using your product by making them pay MORE to use it?
The effects of microwaves on a plasma TV. He's exposing it to a microwave transformer. 15 minutes.
Jumping robot.
Quad-rotor musicians.
Quad-rotor remote control DeLorean.
The script for Bill and Ted 3 is done. Now they need the studio to approve it. [link]
A Japanese parakeet and it's best friend.
What the tip of a drill sees. [link]
The Avengers trailer done with 60's art.
1,000 small theaters to close in the next few years because they can't convert to digital. [link]
Evidence that humans can hibernate? [link]
The first attempted assassination of a US President. [link]
10 really old things that still work. My favorite is #7, the traffic light. [link]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
