Nerd Alert

Well, it's not much to look at, but she's got it where it counts:

http://www.asciimation.co.nz/#

ASCII star wars.

All I need are the goggles

When in doubt...steampunk computers. If I had money to burn, all my machines would be variations of these:

And of course my absolute favorite, the steampunk laptop:



And if you haven't seen this, check out Steampunk Star Wars.
(My favorite is the Steampunk Death Star)

Coooooool

The NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mapped all but one of our lunar landing sites from the Apollo missions (link).

I'm going to side-step the whole moon landing denial thing (since this will just be dismissed as photoshopped lies).

This is SO cool. I especially love the image from the Apollo 14 mission:


You can see the lander (pointed out by the arrow, you can really get a sense of its shape in its shadow), and just to the upper left of the lander leading off to the left the actual tracks left by the astronauts walking to a series of instruments to the left of the picture. So not only do we see the lander (cool) we can see the actual footprints left by our astronauts.

If that doesn't move you check your pulse and call 911...you might be dead.

Le sigh

I miss my kittens. To help sooth my damaged feelings: pictures of my kittens, arranged with amusing captions...maybe a story or two. You never know.

Like most kittens: they hate the vacuum cleaner. Geo is hiding in the sink from that vile machine.
Sometimes both of them try to hide in the sink.

Did you know Geo has camouflage? Near total invisibility in the pile o' shoes.


Helloooooo

Your knee. It offends me.


I kill it.

Kill! Die Die Die Diieeeeeeee!

What's all that noise about?


Ah. It's you. Carry on...but keep it down.

Have you ever had to punish a cat? Well it doesn't work so well...Little Miss Geo routinely makes me look foolish while trying to chase her down to punish her. I've decided to go with a "time out corner" here's what it looks like...I'm still working on making a tiny little dunce cap.



I think I'm getting sick from a tumble into a polluted creek today...so I'm going to go to bed. Good night moon!

(Geo in her Fortress of Solitude)

Shameless

Shamelessly lifting this from Fark:

In honor of Tesla's birthday: video of a Tesla coil.



Oh, and this:

I'm not updating this as much as I might "like," but I'm spending more of my energies 1) digging and 2) updating Undead Naked Archaeology. I'll see what I can't do about getting some updates in here on "real" stuff...but really, most of my mind is otherwise occupied. Oh well...maybe I'll revert to a series of video posts I find off Youtube...

Crash Landing

You know, I'm not quite sure what to think about this picture. (link)


I guess part of me would expect some huge crater...like the sort you see in, well, a science fiction movie. I mean, it's not like Hollywood would exaggerate things to make them more spectacular, right? Then again, the impact was "only" 300kph, and while the blurb says the parachute didn't open, they have to mean the main chute, or one of many, as I'd expect something that was crashing from beyond the magnetosphere would have a bit more momentum than that, right? Anyhow...I guess I'm sometimes a little sad that reality doesn't mesh with what I "know" about space thanks to Star Trek/Star Wars/Battlestar Galactaca/Dr. Who/etc.

I should know better, as I know better than most how freaking hard dirt is. I've certainly swung a mattock at full strength only to have it bounce off particularly frozen or clayey soil or a rock with totally uninjured soil laughing at my efforts. When I put things into that perspective the face that this object burrowed so deep suddenly becomes impressive again.

Still...I want more.

I was discussing with my father the other week just how disappointing it would be if we made contact, developed interstellar travel and discover...Vulcans. Boooooring. Us? With pointy ears? I mean yeah, it's cool we'd have discovered more life and there would be so much to learn, do, etc....but I think deep down I'd be a little disappointed. Of all the possible combinations there could be it turns out there's a single blueprint for life? Yawn. (well, of course it would be cool to know that, but again, I'd imagine a slight letdown too). Where are the tentacled monsters? Where are the lizard people? Where's Admiral Ackbar? I guess when it comes right down to it...I want Star Wars, and not Star Trek when/if we make it to deep space.

I'm never sleeping again

I hate bees. Hate hate hate hate bees. And bees, hate America (why else would they attack America's pastime?)

Article (with Video of Bee Swarming Action)

I'm not sure if I've ever expressed my displeasure with our yellow and black stinging neighbors. But suffice it to say I'm having freaking nightmares for a week after even a brief encounter like this with swarming action (and of course torturing myself by following various internet threads on the activity and pictures of people covered in bees.

What's that?

I'm covered in beeeeeees!