Pink dolphin, asteroid flyby and Watchmen
See the world’s only pink bottlenose dolphin, found in Lake Calcasieu in Louisiana: “Pink dolphin appears in US lake.” They’ve dubbed this rare albino dolphin Pinky. A large asteroid just missed hitting the Earth last week. Watch video: Huge Meteor “Just Misses” Earth. We almost had another Tunguska. Littlewood’s law is fascinating. It states that […]
Satellites and space debris (plus Achievement Unlocked)
Before I get into music and entertainment links, I will start with a depressing space-related science article chain. Satellites Uh-oh (Feb. 11): “Debris Spews Into Space After Satellites Collide.” Did this collision between a U.S. communications satellite and a defunct Russian satellite just create a new atmospheric minefield for future space launches? Very cool (Feb. […]
WordPress 2.7.1 upgrade (and cool art)
Today I got around to upgrading spiral::notepad to WordPress 2.7.1, which is the first maintenance release for 2.7. It’s a bug-fix version that was two months in the making. Keeps getting better. Now, to help fill out this post, I will share some cool art and technology, with assistance from Gizmodo. With the Academy Awards […]
Back from Arizona, with links
Here is some stuff I have read and watched recently, mostly while in Arizona last week. Google PowerMeter Google recently released prototype software that allows users to receive real-time home energy usage data from compatible “smart meters” and use that information to optimize their energy use. Read the article: “Google PowerMeter: For A Planet In […]
Digital TV delayed? (and sleepy cats, PS2)
At midnight on February 17, 2009, all television broadcasts are supposed to switch from analog to 100% digital. Though now there may be a delay because the federal government has run out of funds for digital converter box coupons. In any case, this video is amusing: Cable PSA. It’s the future! The New York Times […]
Benjamin Button, Watchmen, Jaydiohead, Mega64
I saw David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in the theater on Sunday. The film was fantastic, but the crass-commercialism bludgeoning by Carmike made me not want to see another movie in their theaters anytime soon. The special effects for the aging of Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, both forward and backward, were […]
BCS National Championship in 3D (and the future)
Guess what? For the first time in the history of ever, the BCS National Championship is available to watch in Live 3D at a Cinedigm Digital Cinema theater near you. Apparently the closest Cinedigm theater to me is in Gig Harbor, WA (just northwest of Tacoma). There are no Cinedigm theaters in Oregon. I think […]
Shapeshifting skyscraper, post-apocalyptic movies, logos
First, this is cool: “A Shapeshifting Skyscraper in Miami’s Skyline?” (In related news, now you can reserve an apartment in the first rotating skyscraper in Dubai, thanks to Italian architect David Fisher.) Second, Boris the cat has his own music video. Third, let’s make some subtitles for this post. Movies In addition to my “10 […]
Crazy cat people: Transformation complete?
It is time to continue the story of our apparent transformation into crazy cat people. I left off a couple of months ago with my two “Autumn cats” posts. When we moved out of our apartment in October, we did in fact bring two outside/stray cats (Daisy and The King) with us to our new […]
Thanksgiving with football, Coraline, World of Goo
This month, my “Lazy man’s Thanksgiving dinner for two” post from last November has, rather appropriately, become one of this blog’s most popular. With wins this weekend, both the Oregon State Beavers (8-3) and the Penn State Nittany Lions (11-1) stayed on track for a rematch in the Rose Bowl. OK, now I have some […]