They're Back.

Once in college I was attacked by ladybugs. Its more surprising and unpleasant than you'd imagine. Just now I was looking out the window and there on the other side, in the middle of the otherside, away from everything else on the other side... was a lady bug. Now I'm not saying this was a scout (although as soon as he saw me spot him he flew off); that they're looking to finish the job; and I'm not saying this is an indication of imminent ladybug invasion. Alls I'm sayin is stay alert, don't let them get the jump on you. They're more organized than you know.


Coccinellidae - Wikipedia

Self Medication

I've been on about this for years.  I even have my own treatment plan to offer as an alternative to doping up little Jimmy.  Its called "sit down and shut the hell up".  Don't tell him that he's got some disorder that keeps him from behaving and learning, or it'll just become his excuse for being a moron.  Not that I'm opposed to excuses for being a moron (mine's called alcohol) I just think kids should have to come up with their own, not get handed one on a silver platter.  I wanna see some creativity when someone asks why they're such a spaz.

New Scientist News - Prescribing of hyperactivity drugs is out of control

Its Not Paranoia If They're Really After You.

You know that compulsion you had when you were little when you mailed a letter? You just had to open the box again and make sure that the letter went down. No matter how hard you tried the worry consumed you and you just had to check. OK, maybe that was only me. And maybe I still do it. Shut-up. Its kinda like when I wonder "hmmm... are my keys in my pocket?" and although I can rationalize every reason in the world why they're in there, its just easier to check and put my mind at ease. Anyway, I just went downstairs and mailed my "Yes, I E-filed and yes, I want direct deposit" letter to the Federal Government. (don't even get me started on that) The mailbox was jammed so full of letters so that they wouldn't drop down. This would have blown my mind if I were still 8 making sure my letter to Santa was posted. Luckily there's another box immediately adjacent so I could mail my letter properly, I just can't imagine who would've put those last few letters in there and felt secure about their fate.

I'm Good Over Here, Thanks.

I have a healthy fear of heights. Its not irrational, just enough to keep me from plummeting to my doom. I'm pretty sure I'll never feel the urge to do this. Its a glass walkway that will extend 70 ft out over the Grand Canyon. Its going to be able to support 72,000,000 pounds of weight; but somehow as much as they try to reassure me, its not working. I stood on the clear floors of the sky tower and I didn't much like it. Mark my words - no good shall come of this.

Damn Interesting » The Grand Canyon Skyway

Update
Hmmm... 220 feet or 4,000 feet. Don't worry I'm not contemplating anything, see above re: fear of heights.

Superior Structure.

I knew there was a reason for my brilliance. Turns out it has to do with the thickness of somethingorother...

news @ nature.com suggest IQ scores reflect brain structure results reignite intelligence controversy.

You Just Leave That In The Parking Lot?

(Dee S. Nutts #2)
Apparently Bentlys are expensive. (like $208,650)

I Think It Was Red...

(Dee S. Nutts #3)
I'd say this looks like a viper

Cooking like gods.

Why has no one told me this exists? Imagine how much more delicious everything I make would be with super-butter. Tastier than a speeding bullet, more creamy than a locomotive, able to flavor tall buildings in a single bound.

Plugra butter

Watch Out Fer Them Books...

They's dangerous.

Official Tolerance

Ok, I'm not really sure what to make of this; whether we need to change some laws or ticket a crap-load of people. Anyway I was driving somewhere recently on a two lane closed-access road with a 45 mph speed limit. On the side of the road was one of those mobile light-up message boards. Not the kind in the picture that's shooting radar, the kind that usually tells you about upcoming construction and lane closures. The sign said, and I quote: "Speed kills" "Speed Limit 45 mph" "Please slow down" Odd, huh? I looked down and I was going 75. But so was everyone else. And we were all 10-15 feet away from each other, people merging and changing lanes to make room. No problems at all! No one tap-tap-tapping on the brake causing countless backups, no one in the right lane going 50 making a bottleneck of pissed off drivers. It was amazing. Now I have to assume this is a fairly common occurrence. After all, someone decided to put that sign there because they knew that people are always speeding there. It just seemed kinda sad; that sign was pleading everyone to slow down, and without conferring we unanimously decided to ignore him.

State Traffic and Speed Laws

I'll Trade You A Ball For A Liver.

You heard me.  Scientists in Germany have grown embryonic stem cells from samples of mouse testicles.  They're hopeful that the process will transfer to humans allowing for an "ethical" source of cells.  This might allow the manufacture of "tissue matched cells" for replacing organs or tissue.

“We can turn these into all kinds of tissue, from beating cardiac and vascular cells to neurons, skin cells and liver cells,”

Does this mean they could turn rocky mountain oysters into fillet?  I know the implications would probably be more world-changing than that but I think I'm still a little uncomfortable with the whole "collection" procedure.

New Scientist Breaking News - Mice testicles yield 'ethical' stem cells

Pipes

Does this seem a little excessive to you?

Grand Challenge Coverage Next Tuesday!

Oh baby! I knew something like this would come out. Seems like people would be pissed off if Super Bowl coverage was delayed like this. Its times like these I'm glad I can remotely program my tivo so I don't forget about things.

NOVA | The Great Robot Race | PBS

It’s a public-safety issue.

Since just before the 1,000th suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge, the media have been downplaying jumpers. Its good not to glamorize it and entice people into killing themselves, but we still need to hear about some things. Read this article when you have time. Its well written and is very interesting.

The New Yorker: Fact

I had a feeling...

Red light cameras and speed cameras don't reduce violations or accidents. Actually this study of the Winnipeg program found that the police just cooked the books to make photo ticketing appear successful. In fact collisions increased 58% at intersections with the devices. They also claimed that speeding violations were down because of mobile speed cameras, but actually they were just issuing less citations because of staffing trouble. Nice guys, where's your "its not about the money, its about public safety" argument now? And wow, check out these reports on other areas. How much more ammunition do we need before they start yanking these things?


Winnipeg, Canada Report Shows Accidents Increased with Cameras

Fast-play!

Sweet!  Disney must have realized that I get pissed off with all the mandatory previews and "don't steal movies" warnings.  (psst, I bought the movie, if I pirated it I would have cut out all your B.S. warnings to save space)  So what did they do?  They spent long hours in dark smokey rooms and finally came up with a "fast-play" concept.  Super!  Now you have the option to select "fast-play" or main menu when the dvd starts up.  Don't get your hopes up though, apparently this cute new technology is just "slow-as-balls-play" rebranded to make you think you're getting something better.  It took the tester 7 minutes 10 seconds to start playing the movie as opposed to 1 minute 20 seconds from the main menu.  I'm not saying this isn't good, to separate the play modes into "show me a bunch of crap" and "don't"  I'm just saying they got the buttons mixed up.  Oh, and if you're in a big damn hurry, cut to the scene selection screen.  That only takes 28 seconds to get to the wheat. Makes me kinda want to finally pop in that Lady and the Tramp dvd I bought a month ago.

The Robservatory » How to (not!) Fast Play a Disney DVD

Foreign News in 11.2 seconds.

I guess it depends on how fast you read, so that 11.2 is all up to you. Lets go:

* Nigerian census officials attacked with acid and machettes.
* Mexico says bird flu is NOT at the US border.
* U.N. Peacekeepers return to ivory coast after fleeing January riots.
* British rescue hostages in Iraq, spark retaliatory bombings.
* Students in France refuse to work, choke streets.
* Senior Anglican Bishop and Pope meet to talk about being gay.

Well the... the real humans won't uh... won't burn quite so fast in there, mw-hai.

So we had a fire drill last night. It wasn't scheduled or anything, just loud and rude. I went driving around to get some coffee or something (all the places has just closed) instead of standing around in the cold. After a few minutes firetrucks began to race through downtown and I got a call from someone who lives a few floors up. She said there was smoke coming from the building. Before that I pretty much assumed that the building wasn't on fire, in my experience they hardly ever are. I thought "Well crap, I should have brought my TV with me." I then continued to consider the repercussions of my apartment being incinerated. "Dammit, I'll have to buy all those dvds again." All this is internal monologue so I guess it went by pretty quickly and you don't really pick what comes next. "And I just bought a new bottle of bodywash." Apparently those are my priorities: TV, dvd's and bodywash. Who would have thought? Over all I'm kinda perplexed at how calm I was at the prospect of losing my stuff. My main emotion was "huh, that would suck" Word in the building is that it was some po-theads who got a little liberal with the incense. So it turns out there wasn't really a fire, and I don't have to start rebuying all my dvds. Whew.

'Well, one of the gypsies took it.'

This is kinda cool looking.  Gypsy is Veedub's concept of a complete in-dash computer.  Various menus for music, email, phone, and (i assume) directions.  I'd like to see a little more voice integration though and it might be a really good idea to limit options based on the speed and position of the car.

[video] A dashboard that is really a PC | CNET News.com

WooHoo!

My Growler came!!! Hmmm... two liters seems like a lot more beer before I consume it. Maybe I should get a green one too.

Homebrew.com: Wide Mouth Growler - Amber - 2 Liter

Die Lotosblume Angstigt

Looks like Dee S Nutts #2 had a good day yesterday as well. I like the orange better.
Lotus side view.

Fresh Cayman Anyone?

Guess what I saw yesterday. Its wasn't a small alligator. After much deliberation I've decided that I could live with the haunches at the rear wheels on this car. I was also worried that it was just the same back end as the boxter (weak) but I think its different enough not to aggravate me.

Come on, Mexico City!

Check this noise out.  Live flight tracking.  That's cool.  Now click the link to load up the data in Google Earth.  This picture is a Southwest flight from Jacksonville to BWI that's in the air right now. Little bit more effort and we've got an online version of Kramer's "betting on the arrivals and departures" game. It updates once a minute, so its not real-time. But its pretty good.

Aeroseek: Real-Time Flight Tracking

Update
Whoa baby! Its a real barn burner between USA2163 and CHQ3038 into National. Looks like the little airbus has the win locked up though, you hardly ever see a sudden overtake at the finish.

Update
Check out these guys. The ones on the right are competing American and US air flights to National out of Dallas Ft Worth. Oh, man! You can't see but UAS1642 just took a 90 degree turn straight at DC! AAL1330 is hurting to catch up, but he made the exact same turn and is lowering altitude. He's still going 25 knots faster than the leader... Oh man. Its a nail biter.

Update
Disaster for all you American Airlines fans out there. The Us Air flight threw a zig towards Virginia and then pulled a hard bank to head due north into the landing grid. The pursuer bit hard on the fake and took a full six and a half miles to rectify. Nice moves 1642, well won victory.

I never learned how to use chapstick.

So I had a couple ultimate games over the weekend and it was windy as a mo-fo out there. As a result I ended up with windburned lips; which basically exhibits itself as chapped lips, it just takes longer. Normally my course of action and home remedy for chapped lips is... nothing. It goes away when its ready. But today in the grocery I saw this three pack of Blistex and decided to give it a go. There are three flavors: "uplifting", "renewing" and "relaxing." Now I'm pretty sure each one of these should taste like an imperial pint of Guinness, but I doubt that any of them will. Just goes to show this kinda thing is marketed for people that know how to use it. I've realized that it might take a bit of finesse to apply this stuff correctly. I mostly end up with something that tastes like starburst smeared on me, which I quickly consume. But honestly, that's not my fault. If they'd been trying to sell this to me my whole life, I might have learned how to use it. You see the vicious cycle?

Spa Effects

Yeah, I never read 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' either.

Or 'Of Mice and Men.'  Or 'The Scarlet Letter.'  Or 'Jurassic Park.'  Or the 'Malleus Maleficarum.'  What?  I got the jist of them all.  That's what books are for, right?

Seems like this movie is taking forever.  I mean come ON!  How am I sposed to pretend that I read the book and get caught on an obvious inconsistency during a heated debate?

Bits of News - New 'Da Vinci Code' Trailer Online

Open the Vault!

I did always kinda want a piece of Scarlett...  Ahem.  Anyway, Hasbro is hosting a bunch of old cartoons.  You know back when they didn't suck.  Ok, fine they sucked.  But its a different kind of sucking.  You can tell the difference right?

action - video

But you can't ride it

Ok, file this under waste of space.  A bunch of 8th graders in California have taken up their entire gym with a 1/4 scale roller coaster.

"Twenty-four feet tall at its highest point and occupying 10,000 square feet, the fully-functional ride towers over the 135 eighth-graders who are its designers, builders and decorators."

Decorators?  What, is that for the kids who aren't good at anything?  'Well Billy, I don't trust you with a saw and you're too stupid to design anything, so you can just put stickers on what the other students made.'   What does "fully functional" mean?  It looks like plywood strapped to scaffolding; do you even have a passenger restraint system?  And what're you guys gonna do with it now?  Sell tickets to 1/4 scale people with death wishes?  Is someone going to take this thing home like the class hamster at the end of the year? Why don't you go build a deck instead of wasting space, money and time?  Take that crap down and use your gym for running around.  Retards.

Update
Wow, that site with the original picure got dugg hard. He must've had some pretty tight upload restrictions. Here's the digg link and a page with the roller coaster photo gallery.

Misplaced Glory.

Calvin is my role model.

Ping!

Who wants to bring back 'pocket spittoons'? I know we don't really have a rampant consumption problem anymore, but I think it'd be pretty funny if everyone walked around with a jar of their own phlem. Although trends based on self-deprication could be trouble to get off the ground. I'd say we should start a chewing fad, but that's just disgusting and selfish. Giving people mouth cancer just so I can laugh at their spit jars? I'm not that evil. I guess I'll have to remain satisfied making fun of people who roll up their jeans. You think I'm crazy, I know, but its coming back. Don't let the insanity spread! Citizens, hear me out! This could happen to you!

Spittoon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cool, but...

I think I might be a bit pissed off if I ran over a Roomba wearing a frog suit.

Roomba takes Frogger to the asphalt jungle | CNET News.com

Asshat

You don't really get it do you Bill?  Ok, let me explain.  Out there in the world there are poor people.  They don't have a grand to throw down for a flash-in-the-pan mini-tablet PC.  They don't even have a socket to plug into, so don't make fun of a hand crank.  You know what a wireless laptop is without power?  A doorstop.  I know you're all misty eyed cause they're running Linux, but that's no reason to be a hater.  And what're you talking about "it needs a hard disk?"  Ever heard of web applications?  Google is in the process of replacing your office suite with web services, plus you can store buttloads of data on servers like Google, Amazon, Goowy, etc for free.  Seems kinda like 'The Road Ahead' caters to only the wealthy, since they've got the dimes to rub together.  What about 'The Dirt Path Beside The Road Ahead'?  Don't they get a scooter or something?

Technology | Reuters.com | Gates Mocks $100 laptop

We're Charging More But Making Less, What's Going On?

Oh yeah, its not the ten dollar ticket price, not the 12 dollar box of stale popcorn, not the lack of in-theatre alcohol sales, not the sub-standard drivel they try to pass off as entertainment, not the boorish rabble talking away and answering phones, not the increasing quality and lowering cost of home theatres, and not the seemingly overnight turnover of films onto (legitimate) DVD that are keeping movie goers from stepping out. Its the pirates. Right. Not that I need those guys hogging up my bandwidth, I guess its just a knee jerk reaction whenever the man blames something on the internet.

Techdirt: Even When It's Not Piracy's Fault, It's Piracy's Fault

sux0r on th1s

Cool beans. I've been using AutoHotKeys literally for years. Mostly its to remap buttons. For example: my right start button minimizes or maximizes all my Firefox windows, right click left click minimizes the current window, left click right click is mute, right click scroll wheel adjusts volume. I could go on... but I won't. The jist of it is a script that lives in your system tray waiting for key combinations. Amazingly useful as I've had it configured. Now there's a Lifehacker article about how to add text replacement using AHK. Hmm let me fix that. Auto Hot Keys. Whew, that took all of five seconds to code. So now when I write ahk, the text is replaced with what it means. Kinda reminds me of the time I set the auto-correct in word to replace my brother's name with mine. I guess I have to make sure that I don't use those acronyms for anything else, but what this immediately springs to mind for is eliminating all that leet crap I have to read. The brbs and the lols and the stfus. Now you can have your shorthand and eat it too.

Hack Attack: Knock down repetitive email with AutoHotKey - Lifehacker

Fair enough.

Alright, now give me a million dollars. I figure I'd better ask for what I really want. Google Desktop is out of beta, mere hours after my demands, they cave. Yeah, big whoop, you released a search tool. Now solve the lackluster mass transit system in this country. Or I guess you could work on this list of 25 things people should hate about Google. All of which I'd say are pretty valid.

Official Google Blog: Stay in Ctrl Ctrl

Update
Nice, you can configure the quick search bar (ctrl ctrl) to find programs as the first option, effectively replacing my "find and run robot." Less things to run? Alllllright. Also, the "search across all my computers" thing would be cool if it weren't so creepy.

Seriously, Stop Buying These Companies And Finish A Product For Once.

Just after scarfing Writely and a string of other lookers, Google buys "SketchUp" the easy 3D modeling software company. Hmmm... make the buildings on Google Earth into a modeling wiki, where everyone models what they know? That'd be a good way to get a ton of semi accurate data into the system. Of course if you're really talking to VeeDub about putting Google Earth Nav systems into their cars, you need more than semi accurate. Anyway its a nice payoff and recognition for these little companies to be gobbled up by Google (almost like winning an academy award on the web), but you guys need to stop doing this. Finish something! I remember the good old days when Google just said "we're going to do this one thing, and we're going to whoop up on anyone else who tries it."

SketchUp Home

Update
Wow. That was quicker than I expected. Check out these .kmz (google earth) files people made with SketchUp.
Statue of Liberty
SketchUp headquarters
Google Mountain View campus

Official Google Blog: A new home for @Last Software

Web 2.0

I feel dirty just saying it. Kinda like when I try to explain what I do here and invariably have to resort to using the term 'blog'. uuuggghhh. I like AJAX and the new face of web tools but I just can't bring myself to call anything web 2.0

A List Apart: Articles: Web 3.0

Son-of-a... undo, undo!

So I decided to finish up my Bond collection (finally) today. That basically means patrolling ebay to try and find a reasonably priced copy of "Thunderball" and "Live and Let Die" that aren't bootleg. I'm a little wary ever since I noticed my copy of "License To Kill" is spelled "Lisence To Kill." Not a huge deal, the DVD works and its no tangible loss on my part. Anyway, in my haste I neglected to enable the locale filter and as a result I'm now the proud owner of a copy of "Thunderball" in Australia. The ironic part is that since I was trying so hard to make sure I didn't get a bootleg copy, this one is definitely region coded. I remember this same sinking feeling when I was in New Zealand and was gravitationally drawn into a DVD store on the street. Idly browsing, the revelation struck me like a brick on the back of the head. I asked the shopkeep "What region are you guys?" "Four." He replies and I back out of the store as if I had just wandered into a local 'Sunshine Carpet Cleaner'. But there is no undo button. I don't blame them, there are tons of "You're sure you want this?" buttons. I just think "What am I a moron? Of course I want to do this. Stop asking me." So anyway, I'll just have to rip the DVD, strip out the region coding and keep two discs in that case. One for just in case I don't have a region free player.

How I Feel Today...

I saw the Boondocks TV cartoon once. It was pretty funny. But that may have had to do with Samuel L. Jackson as a guest star and numerous Pulp Fiction references.

Lifetime No More

It really makes me feel good when I have something that a company decides to stop offering because its too good of a deal for consumers.

TiVo lifetime plan still available ... for now - Engadget

New Bond - a Prequel?

Huh.  I guess I never really thought they'd try to explain where Bond came from, that's almost part of the mystique.  I mean, I like to imagine he was always that money, even back in grade school.  He'd have all kinds of escapades and kick people's asses out on the playground and then slip into his seat when the teacher's back was turned.  The teacher turns back and he's straightening his clip-on tie while chatting up some bird next to him.  Anyway, it looks like Daniel Craig, the man with two first names, is going to play a young bond out on his first mission in Casino Royale.  This means no Major Boothroyd, no gadgets and less swank moneyness.  A villian is played by Sebastien Foucan, a co-inventor of Parkour, which should be fun for chases.  There's some trouble with the assassinations and he falls in love with a girl (which George Lazenby already did in 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service')   Bond is supposed to dislike violence and has feelings?  You know, Timothy Dalton already tried being true to the darker, more emotional novel Bond and was met with criticism from people who just wanted a Bond movie.  Hmmm.  They've used the word gritty several times in the article and I get the feeling that this will be a good action movie, but not a Bond movie.

New James Bond movie: fewer gadgets, more grit - Yahoo! News

Oh good, other people are pissed off too.

Go see "Why we Fight." Its good. It does a nice job coalescing all the various grievances I have with our government. You know, from the legalized corruption to the intentional deception and manipulation. Makes me feel hopeful that other people realize how bleak our situation is; which in turn makes me depressed that its not just me and things really are that bad. Ah, screw it. I'm gonna get an ice cream sammich.

Informal Poll

Raise your hand if you're pissed off that The Office was a repeat last night. Alright, now raise your hand if you had just watched the episode they did air on DVD while trying to kill time till The Office came on. God dammit. When will this season end... and come out on DVD.

P.S. Don't you even dare suggest that I buy them on iTunes cause there is no way I'm paying two bucks a piece for a bunch of DRMed crap locked on my computer.

P.P.S. Pam is my friend on myspace. Watch out Jim.

So I Dropped My iPod

Now that I have all this deliciousness off my hands (Mmmm... Toasty.) I can tell you about my near tragedy this lunchtober. I dropped PAL. Yeah, I named my iPod PAL, like the dog on Arther, big whoop. Wanna fight about it? Anyway since today is so fantastically warm, I decided not to wear my coat out to get my sandwich. This has a direct negative effect on the number of pockets available to me. With keys, phone and wallet, there aren't too many options left; and since I don't really prefer the back pocket for an iPod it went into my shirt pocket. Everything was fine until I got back to the office. Perhaps if today wasn't so nice, I wouldn't have had such a spring in my step. (Of course if it wasn't so nice I would have had my coat, so this is definitely the weather's fault.) Anyway it was the spring that set the tragedy in motion. I hopped up on the curb and as I did PAL sprung up out of the pocket up to about chin height a foot in front of me. Now, having catlike reflexes like I do, and not wanting my little buddy to fall to the ground I tried to catch it. Not good. Instead of saving him from a small tumble I ended up playing tetherball and whacking my music player halfway down the parking lot. The initial impact shook the case loose and exposed his smooth metallic finish to the savagery of the asphalt. Dammit Jim! Perhaps I'm being a little over dramatic but the worst I'd done before this was a two and a half foot drop onto linoleum. Basically throwing it into the ground is quite the traumatic experience. As far as I can see it still works fine, so I guess I'm glad I had the case, 20 bucks well spent. Anyway, now he's got a couple nicks out of the top, no longer pristine. When are the announcing that full screen touch iPod?

My Network

No, not your network, 'Rupert Asshole Murdock's Network'. Just take a look at this cynical review with the answers to all your really important questions. Like:

"How come really great shows like Arrested Development get the shaft, yet crap like According to Jim keeps coming back like herpes"

Whew for a minute there I was afraid the UPN/WB merger would leave a gaping hole that no one could produce enough crap to fill.  Thanks Rupert.

Portland Mercury - Columns - I Love Television - I ♥ TV

Fungibles.

Hmmmm... buying razors off amazon.  I know its a rip-off, but I don't belong to a warehouse club so everywhere I go is a rip-off.  Really my biggest beef is when the whole shelf of razors is empty and I have to go talk to someone to get them from behind a counter.  I should go ask someone and then tell them I won't be buying razors at that store, just so they know they're losing business.  But that would defeat my initial desire not to talk to anyone, so I just leave.  Anyway, back to Amazon.  If I bought from Amazon, they'd be delivered to my door in a couple days (probably with a new DVD) and I wouldn't have gone out and failed several times at getting new ones.  The only thing is that they're still too expensive online, you guys need to throw me a couple bucks to entice me.  Also where are the 16 count razor packs, all i can get is 8?  How long is that supposed to last me?  Its not like they spoil.

On another topic, has anyone noticed that Amazon is starting with blogs?  And now there's a space for a "product wiki" at the bottom?  Amazon, you are an internet fixture.  Its ok to do your own thing and let other people do theirs.  This is what happens when executives at big companies hear about something cool and say "how can we make money from this while compromising our initial intentions."  Stooooopid.

Amazon.com: Gillette M3Power Replacement Blades 8 Count: Health & Personal Care

Grand Challenge 2006

So I got to thinkin about the grand challenge today and what, if anything, is next.  I mean, yeah there were failures, but a lot of the robots handled the course with no problem.  So, what's harder than crossing rough terrain?  How about well trafficked terrain?  There's a link to a DARPA survey gauging interest in an urban grand challenge.  Sounds pretty cool, but I just can't shake the image of robo-Godzilla thrashing the streets of downtown Tokyo in his morning commute.  He even has an overcoat and hat on as he runs for the train.  (He doesn't make it in time.) What's the best urban course you can think of?  Atlanta?  LA?  New York?  I know I get pretty pissed off when I try to get from Rockville to Bowie and back on a Friday at 4:45.  Sign Stanley up for that.

DARPA Grand Challenge 2006?

Achtung Baby!

Holy crap. There are cars, nice cars, and ridiculously tuned nice cars. Take for example this 800hp Porsche from Sportec. It'll pull 62mph in 3.0 seconds. Add 5.7 more and you're at 124 mph. I will never own, touch or see a car this nice.
An 800-hp Gorilla: The 236 mph Sportec 911 - Jalopnik

That's What I'm On About!

This is badass.

Reality Check

No seriously, have you ever performed a reality check? How do you know if you're dreaming? For me its usually when I'm flying or lifting things with my thoughts. But what if you want to get better at identifying when you're dreaming? Seems reasonable that you should just perform some tests during your day and if they succeed, you're dreaming. Ok, maybe it doesn't seem reasonable for an adult to expect his phone to levitate or to be able to put his finger through his hand. Maybe that makes me deranged. I figure at worst I'll loose my grasp of reality and have to spend a lot of time surrounded by rubber walls being told what is real by men in white coats. Which doesn't really sound like fun. Best case scenario: I figure out that I'm Neo and I really can fly, dodge bullets and come back to life. Those two might not be mutually exclusive. And all in the pursuit of the lucid dream. What I really expect to happen is that I'll get tired of trying to fly with no success and stop believing it will happen. With all that in mind, I'm still pretty pumped up for the off chance that this actually works and I'll be able to control my dreams every night. I can never seem to remember that when my vision is really blurry or my eyes won't stay open or I'm way slower than everyone else, that means I'm dreaming. Hopefully I'll be able to come up with some solid tests and remember to do them regularly. I can't wait to try out some new stuff like shape-shifting or maybe a little... HADOKEN!

Blonde Lobsters Have All The Fun.

This is the kind of thing that makes me think we have no idea what else is in the ocean.  For example, a kind of white lobster-type thing with blonde fur.  Weird.

Scientists said the animal, which they named Kiwa hirsuta, was so distinct from other species that they created a new family and genus for it.

Come ON!  We've never even seen anything even close to this before?  What else is down there?  Some kind of underwater alien base?

New Animal Resembling Furry Lobster Found - Yahoo! News

Like Crumbs Off The Table People.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the Japanese are ten years ahead of us.  Hand dryers was one of the things I mentioned as proof of this.  You'd stick your hands inside this case, and seconds later they were dry, no wiping the last moist remnants on your shirt.  Well I can't imagine what they've got over there now if they're willing to let us have that technology.  Don't get me wrong, there will always be a place in my heart for the Xlerator, the massive blast of air almost knocks you back and is terribly fun.  But the Japanese are a trixy bunch, and they just make things work better.  They've probably figured out some way to make the water dry itself before you're done washing your hands.  Or maybe they've done away with going to the bathroom altogether.  I hope they don't start sending those toilets with the buttons and sounds and spraying water over here.  If 25% of America can't use the Internet, they are definitely not ready for those.

Dry Your Hands in Six Seconds With the Jet Towel - Gizmodo

Ever Gotten a Slowing Ticket?

Ok, so we all know that women can't drive. It only makes sense, its a car not a delicious thanksgiving dinner. A young woman in the UK was caught by a speeding camera while applying make-up as she drove. Now obviously women should try and look good for the men they're around, but apparently the transit authority disagrees. They've fined her 200 pounds for careless driving just because she didn't have her hands on the wheel and was poking some kind of pencil in her eye. The first thing that jumps to mind is that they were mad that she didn't fall for the speed trap; she was going 32 in a 40. But apparently in this case she really is a menace. Just last week she was given a 20 month driving ban for drunk driving. I can't help thinking she would have gotten away with it if she'd only been driving faster.

BBC NEWS | UK | Wales | North West Wales | Fine for driver's make-up offence