Boing Boing: Winston Churchill's 104-year-old parrot is still alive and cursing
This is awesome. I'd like to meet this parrot.
11.09.2004
11.04.2004
Attorney General Giuliani?
NewsMax.com: Inside Cover Story: "Attorney General Giuliani?
Washington is abuzz today with talk that Attorney General John Ashcroft will soon resign.
The conservative Ashcroft, a born-again Christian who has enraged the left, has suffered from pancreatitis and other health problems."
I personally think this would be pretty great, I think Giuliani is a good man, and would be better liked than Ashcroft.
A related article here. (SFgate.com)
Washington is abuzz today with talk that Attorney General John Ashcroft will soon resign.
The conservative Ashcroft, a born-again Christian who has enraged the left, has suffered from pancreatitis and other health problems."
I personally think this would be pretty great, I think Giuliani is a good man, and would be better liked than Ashcroft.
A related article here. (SFgate.com)
Boeing 7E7 article
Wired News: Boeing's Gift to Chapped Fliers
This is a great explanation and preview of the new Boeing airplane, which I think everyone should know about.
This is a great explanation and preview of the new Boeing airplane, which I think everyone should know about.
11.02.2004
Google as Big Brother
Google as Big Brother
This is very interesting reading, and all factual. I grudgingly started using google, mostly because of its clean interface, but still hope for something better to come along, because I just plain don't like how they do things, and this is why.
This is very interesting reading, and all factual. I grudgingly started using google, mostly because of its clean interface, but still hope for something better to come along, because I just plain don't like how they do things, and this is why.
Apple - iMac G5
Apple - iMac G5: "Where did the computer go?"
Indeed. A nifty looking computer, If I had scads of money I'd get one but I'll probably always have a PC.
11.01.2004
Centrino trashes Itanium in brain measurement test
Centrino trashes Itanium in brain measurement test:
Pretty funny stuff. I love my laptop and its Centrinoness. Amazing how far we have come in the past few years.
Pretty funny stuff. I love my laptop and its Centrinoness. Amazing how far we have come in the past few years.
Understanding Aviation
I wrote an article on Kuro5hin if you want to check it out:
Understanding Aviation || kuro5hin.org: "There are those few uninformed that spread ill will about commercial aviation. As is the case in just about anything, people who have no understanding of something love to pick it apart. I'm sure we all know someone who refuses to fly. Their reasons most likely include 'I just don't feel safe on those things.' The fact is, really, that airline travel is exceedingly safe, and becoming ever safer.
I will try to explain exactly why this is. I'd also like to introduce general aviation, and relate what I know about the future of air travel. It is a sad fact that the general public knows very little about aviation, and yet has so much to say about it."
10.26.2004
The new Cray XT3™
10.24.2004
NASA fun, BassDrive
I have been aware for a while of some archived NASA footage of their full-scale transport crash test thingee, which took place in 1980-something, I think. This was with a Boeing 707, and old design. They goofed up the crash a little, and the intense fire was not forseen, and it generally scared people a lot about airliners.
Let me assure you, airline flying is very safe, and I'll write about that some day. In the meantime read "How safe is flying today?" Another myth I'd like to touch on is that airliners and passenger flying is the whole of aviation, as many people unconsciously imagine. There is a ton of other flying out there, most people just don't see it.
Anyways back to the crash. Some fellas had a contest to put this crash footage to music, and I really like the winner. Check it out here. Or at the link below.
Some more NASA fun: what if we threw a cat at a wall in zero gravity? Well you can see what happens here. Or at the link below.
Lastly, what is BassDrive? Well, in one of my phases I got really into drum and bass and jungle music. This has fallen off into a much lower level, but I still enjoy listening to it, like when working on stuff or studying or something. A really great way to listen or to check it out is the internet radio station BassDrive runs at www.bassdrive.com. Their radio shows are just awesome, I particularly like Modern Vintage with Vishnu.
I have to say that these two links I got from Boing Boing, a great place.
LINK for airline safety info
LINK for crash footage
LINK for cat footage
LINK for BassDrive
Let me assure you, airline flying is very safe, and I'll write about that some day. In the meantime read "How safe is flying today?" Another myth I'd like to touch on is that airliners and passenger flying is the whole of aviation, as many people unconsciously imagine. There is a ton of other flying out there, most people just don't see it.
Anyways back to the crash. Some fellas had a contest to put this crash footage to music, and I really like the winner. Check it out here. Or at the link below.
Some more NASA fun: what if we threw a cat at a wall in zero gravity? Well you can see what happens here. Or at the link below.
Lastly, what is BassDrive? Well, in one of my phases I got really into drum and bass and jungle music. This has fallen off into a much lower level, but I still enjoy listening to it, like when working on stuff or studying or something. A really great way to listen or to check it out is the internet radio station BassDrive runs at www.bassdrive.com. Their radio shows are just awesome, I particularly like Modern Vintage with Vishnu.
I have to say that these two links I got from Boing Boing, a great place.
LINK for airline safety info
LINK for crash footage
LINK for cat footage
LINK for BassDrive
9.29.2004
Private spaceflight with SpaceShipOne
I have been following this pretty closely, being a pilot, and being interested in space. Also I am interested in Burt Rutan and his whole history with aviation. Interestingly enough, Paul Allen (Microsoft) and Richard Branson (crazy rich successful business dude, Virgin Atlantic) are also involved.
Having seen their prototype or whatever you want to call it, a Rutan Long-EZ with a rocket engine attached to it, at an airshow a while back, and now seeing an actual spacecraft designed and built, is pretty fantastic. I can't wait to see what happens in like 5 years.
It turns out this is the first of two flights in 14 days required to meet the requirements of the X-Prize, I think (I need to read the articles more closely.) Pretty amazing that this is happening already.
LINK for news about the latest flight.
Having seen their prototype or whatever you want to call it, a Rutan Long-EZ with a rocket engine attached to it, at an airshow a while back, and now seeing an actual spacecraft designed and built, is pretty fantastic. I can't wait to see what happens in like 5 years.
It turns out this is the first of two flights in 14 days required to meet the requirements of the X-Prize, I think (I need to read the articles more closely.) Pretty amazing that this is happening already.
LINK for news about the latest flight.
9.28.2004
New Parker/Stone flick! Awesome!
Yes, finally a new movie from the great guys over there. They have again done something completely unexpected. From the commercials this looks just plain awesome. The story in the link below does a good job of explaining.
LINK
LINK
9.27.2004
205 mph RC51? Nah
Yeah there's this guy who got clocked on his Honda doing 205 mph. Anyways it is kind of obvious to anyone who knows anything about motorcycles that this is not possible on a production motorcycle. He has posted in different places and the only modification to his bike was a slip-on exhaust system. The thing everyone seems to miss though, is that this number should not be taken as exact.
The error involved in timing someone over such a short interval while moving in an aircraft (I am a pilot, and I don't think this would cause too much error but could contribute) would account for an erroneous measurement.
Just a wild guess I am saying up to 15%, or around 30 mph. 15% of 4.29 seconds is like a half to three quarters of a second, hence easily a lot of error. If the guy was going like 50 mph, this error would only be like 5-10 mph.
Taking the 205 mph figure as exact is wrong, I think, and if the police/judge/whoever did so, that's just wrong.
In any case, as a lot of people seem not to notice, the guy was still going way too fast on a public road. Who knows the exact number but it's gotta be something for a cop to even begin to think he was going 200. I think got what he deserved. Motorcyclists get a bad rep from the 5% of riders like this guy.
Anyways...
LINK
The error involved in timing someone over such a short interval while moving in an aircraft (I am a pilot, and I don't think this would cause too much error but could contribute) would account for an erroneous measurement.
Just a wild guess I am saying up to 15%, or around 30 mph. 15% of 4.29 seconds is like a half to three quarters of a second, hence easily a lot of error. If the guy was going like 50 mph, this error would only be like 5-10 mph.
Taking the 205 mph figure as exact is wrong, I think, and if the police/judge/whoever did so, that's just wrong.
In any case, as a lot of people seem not to notice, the guy was still going way too fast on a public road. Who knows the exact number but it's gotta be something for a cop to even begin to think he was going 200. I think got what he deserved. Motorcyclists get a bad rep from the 5% of riders like this guy.
Anyways...
LINK
9.23.2004
Lack of internet harmful to your health
Hey, looks like I got a clinical reason to be around computers all the time. It has been proven scientifically that it is possible to show withdrawal symptoms when deprived of the internet. Check out the article below:
LINK
LINK
On blogging, etc.
Well I guess I better say why I started this up and all.
I haven't really looked into blogging until very recently, always hearing about it and being on the outside. I thought it was kind of a useless and trendy kind of thing to do that was not worth my time.
Well after really looking into it, and realizing it was basically the kind of thing I have always intended to do anyways, AND realizing that much of my web-surfing involved reading blogs in whatever form, AND FINALLY coming accross blogger.com, I decided it was worth my time to at least start one up to check it out.
Basically, unless people actually start reading it, and I am not sure if my friends are the type that actually will (which is ok, I understand) then this is for my own self-indulgence. Which is fine with me. Anyways, if you are reading this, thanks a bunch man! Even better, make a comment or a post.
Obviously I have made a ton of posts in the past few days, I assume this will slow down in the future.
I haven't really looked into blogging until very recently, always hearing about it and being on the outside. I thought it was kind of a useless and trendy kind of thing to do that was not worth my time.
Well after really looking into it, and realizing it was basically the kind of thing I have always intended to do anyways, AND realizing that much of my web-surfing involved reading blogs in whatever form, AND FINALLY coming accross blogger.com, I decided it was worth my time to at least start one up to check it out.
Basically, unless people actually start reading it, and I am not sure if my friends are the type that actually will (which is ok, I understand) then this is for my own self-indulgence. Which is fine with me. Anyways, if you are reading this, thanks a bunch man! Even better, make a comment or a post.
Obviously I have made a ton of posts in the past few days, I assume this will slow down in the future.
Mail-to-Blogger
Alrighty now I am going to make this interactive...I'll be giving out the email address to send your own robLog posts to. For anti-spam reasons I'm only giving this to people I know; if you really want it post a comment to this post and maybe I'll get back to you.
A note though:
A note though:
"Sometimes email programs append text to the bottom of each sent message; to make sure this cruft doesn't get posted to your blog, put #end at the end of your post."Feel free to post comments, news, whatever.
Google ads
Yeah, there's some ads on the robLog. And no, I didn't have to put them on the robLog. Google Adsense is the most sensible ad program I have seen, and while I don't like ads usually, these are pretty discrete and convenient. Just ignore them if you aren't interested, but I do stand to make a little cash if people click through. Not that I'll be getting tons of hits or anything...but heck I thought it was worth a try.
If you want to check it out for your website, check out the quick tour.
Also feel free to use the Google search bar I got there.
Also note that there will now be Audioblogger posts, so you can follow more closely with the Great robLog!
Thanks for reading...if anyone actually is.
If you want to check it out for your website, check out the quick tour.
Also feel free to use the Google search bar I got there.
Also note that there will now be Audioblogger posts, so you can follow more closely with the Great robLog!
Thanks for reading...if anyone actually is.
9.21.2004
Space exploration continues
NASA has chosen a contractor for the next Jupiter probe, which is good news. As a space exploration advocate, I just wanted to share this and make the point that it is more important than the public seems to think.
Also, it is cool that Northop Grumman got the contract, as it is a good company that generally could do with some more contracts.
LINK (Google News listing of articles)
Also, it is cool that Northop Grumman got the contract, as it is a good company that generally could do with some more contracts.
LINK (Google News listing of articles)
Inside Jack
This is pretty funny. My favorite part is about the Sun Java coffee shop...and selling Opteron servers rather than muffins...
Think about a world where Microsoft basically owned Java. Wow.
LINK (flash animation)
Think about a world where Microsoft basically owned Java. Wow.
LINK (flash animation)
Holy ray guns, Batman!
So the Army has microwave riot dispersion "ray guns." The best part is they are also mounting them to vehicles. These will apparently be called "sheriffs" and rove the streets of say, Bagdhad, burninating all those that rise against them. Quite a vision that puts in my head, anyway.
Of course, it does "no permanent harm" to those who are "shot" with it, but it does inflict "intolerable pain."
Article:
telegraph.co.uk LINK
theinquirer.net SOURCE LINK (where I actually saw this)
Of course, it does "no permanent harm" to those who are "shot" with it, but it does inflict "intolerable pain."
Article:
telegraph.co.uk LINK
theinquirer.net SOURCE LINK (where I actually saw this)
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