From SciFi Weekly:
Universal Pictures has given a green light to a comedic take on the SF TV series Land of the Lost, starring Will Ferrell, which begins production in March, Variety reported.Brad Silberling (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events) will direct the adaptation of Sid and Marty Krofft's children's show of the same name. Jimmy Miller is producing, along with the Kroffts; Julie Wixson-Darmody and Daniel Lupi will executive-produce.Ferrell has been attached to Land of the Lost for several years. The adaptation, by Chris Henchy and Dennis McNicholas, revolves around a disgraced paleontologist, his assistant and a macho tour guide who find themselves in a strange world inhabited by dinosaurs, monkey people and reptilian Sleestaks.(Universal is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.)
Friday, October 19, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
The Pope Is On Fire!
Here!
Lots and lots and lots of jokes about Hell I could make here, but I am taking the higher road...
Lots and lots and lots of jokes about Hell I could make here, but I am taking the higher road...
Heavy Ink
Travis has launched another new business, an online comic book order company called Heavy Ink. If you're into comics you should check it out. I've collected stuff since I was 4, although the titles have changed significantly. I plan on moving my sunscriptions over and taking advantage of the home delivery system.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Great Balls of Fire!
Neat! A small, low torque motor made from ball bearings and electricity!
When current passes from the outer ring of the ballrace to the inner ring via each ball, heat is generated at the point of contact due to the increased resistance. This localised heating causes the ball to expand in the hot area, causing a slight elongation of the ball, pushing against the inner and outer rings of the race. If the ball were stationary, this would cause the bearing to stiffen and sieze up, but when it's rotating (from the initial spin), this elongation causes the ball to push itself further round in the direction of rotation, sustaining the movement. This action happens as a continuous process on all the balls which are in electrical contact with the inner and outer rings.
(via)
When current passes from the outer ring of the ballrace to the inner ring via each ball, heat is generated at the point of contact due to the increased resistance. This localised heating causes the ball to expand in the hot area, causing a slight elongation of the ball, pushing against the inner and outer rings of the race. If the ball were stationary, this would cause the bearing to stiffen and sieze up, but when it's rotating (from the initial spin), this elongation causes the ball to push itself further round in the direction of rotation, sustaining the movement. This action happens as a continuous process on all the balls which are in electrical contact with the inner and outer rings.
(via)
"Groundbreaker"
The Bush Administration was trying to do it's warentless wiretapping 6 months before 9/11.
Jesus Shitballs!
here
Former chief executive Joseph P. Nacchio, convicted in April of 19 counts of insider trading, said the NSA approached Qwest more than six months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to court documents unsealed in Denver this week.
...
Nacchio's account, which places the NSA proposal at a meeting on Feb. 27, 2001, suggests that the Bush administration was seeking to enlist telecommunications firms in programs without court oversight before the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon. The Sept. 11 attacks have been cited by the government as the main impetus for its warrantless surveillance efforts.
There is no end to just how morally bankrupt the Bush Administration seems to be.
Jesus Shitballs!
here
Former chief executive Joseph P. Nacchio, convicted in April of 19 counts of insider trading, said the NSA approached Qwest more than six months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to court documents unsealed in Denver this week.
...
Nacchio's account, which places the NSA proposal at a meeting on Feb. 27, 2001, suggests that the Bush administration was seeking to enlist telecommunications firms in programs without court oversight before the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon. The Sept. 11 attacks have been cited by the government as the main impetus for its warrantless surveillance efforts.
There is no end to just how morally bankrupt the Bush Administration seems to be.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Wierd Cough
I've had a persistent cough for the last 2 months which has been getting gradually worse. By cough, I mean I cough fairly loudly every 20 minutes, wake up in the middle of the night coughing and have coughed long and hard enough to cause me to vomit *and* cough (and then the fun *really* starts).
I have, as usual, been ignoring this.
however, I am annoying enough that the folks around me have noticed and been bugging me to go see someone about it. I was reluctant, in part because of a childhood incident which taught me an important lesson.
When I was a kid, I stepped on a bee. A big, nasty bumblebee with a stinger the size of Ford Falcon. I didn't notice it. Rather, my foot hurt a little and I thought I had a rock in my sandal, which was annoying, but hardly a crisis to a 5 year-old. I played with my friends for the better part of 20 minutes being a little annoyed with my foot but not really noticing. Finally, I thought to take the rock out, grabbed my foot, took off the sandal and saw a giant bee stuck in my foot, half squashed and very angry.
and then the world exploded in pain.
I was fine until I saw the bee, after that, after I knew what it was, it was agony. To this day I swear I could watch my foot swell up as my brain figured out I had been stung. The lesson? I would have been fine had I not known what had happened.
Hence, I am not ever in any rush to head to the doctor.
That said, I figured something had gone wrong and went yesterday. Much to my surprise, my GP knew immediately what was wrong. I was having a drug interaction with my meds, one of which is an ACE inhibitor called Lisinopril. For reasons I can't say I understand, my body was building up an overabundance of a chemical which was causing the cough. He changed my meds, told me to stay off planes for 3 weeks and told me I'd be fine in about 10 days, the length of time it will take to have the drug wash out of my system.
Which means a) it’s all minor with no larger meaning and b) I have to cancel my Japan trip, at least until January.
I have, as usual, been ignoring this.
however, I am annoying enough that the folks around me have noticed and been bugging me to go see someone about it. I was reluctant, in part because of a childhood incident which taught me an important lesson.
When I was a kid, I stepped on a bee. A big, nasty bumblebee with a stinger the size of Ford Falcon. I didn't notice it. Rather, my foot hurt a little and I thought I had a rock in my sandal, which was annoying, but hardly a crisis to a 5 year-old. I played with my friends for the better part of 20 minutes being a little annoyed with my foot but not really noticing. Finally, I thought to take the rock out, grabbed my foot, took off the sandal and saw a giant bee stuck in my foot, half squashed and very angry.
and then the world exploded in pain.
I was fine until I saw the bee, after that, after I knew what it was, it was agony. To this day I swear I could watch my foot swell up as my brain figured out I had been stung. The lesson? I would have been fine had I not known what had happened.
Hence, I am not ever in any rush to head to the doctor.
That said, I figured something had gone wrong and went yesterday. Much to my surprise, my GP knew immediately what was wrong. I was having a drug interaction with my meds, one of which is an ACE inhibitor called Lisinopril. For reasons I can't say I understand, my body was building up an overabundance of a chemical which was causing the cough. He changed my meds, told me to stay off planes for 3 weeks and told me I'd be fine in about 10 days, the length of time it will take to have the drug wash out of my system.
Which means a) it’s all minor with no larger meaning and b) I have to cancel my Japan trip, at least until January.
Baby Gordon
From Susan's brother, Stephen
Pictures of the first 4D ultrasound are at http://eskimo.moink.org (no, we are not thinking of naming her Eskimo)
Warning: pictures are of a naked baby, so may be Not Safe For Work.
Pictures of the first 4D ultrasound are at http://eskimo.moink.org (no, we are not thinking of naming her Eskimo)
Warning: pictures are of a naked baby, so may be Not Safe For Work.
Hitchens is Definately Off My Ramadan Holiday Gift List!
He seems to have made something of an ass of himself:
Later that evening, someone in the FFRF was handing out an open letter to the freethought community, one that protested the inclusion of Hitchens and opposing any future speakers of his sort. I sympathized with the sentiment (and if the writer wants to send me an electronic copy, I'll post it here), but I think it was useful to have Hitchens stand up there and tell us what he thinks — and there was absolutely no reticence in his comments, which I admire. But while I agree with his goal of working towards a rational, secular world, a triumph of enlightenment values, I disagree entirely with his proposed strategy, which seems to involve putting a bullet through every god-haunted brain. To have a clearly stated position to which we can respond with clearly stated opposition is actually a kind of gift.
Hitch has always been a strong supporter of the war, a position I found a little puzzling until now. I guess he is, as one guy put it, "he's a highly entertaining nut job who happens to hold a few views similar to mine"
Later that evening, someone in the FFRF was handing out an open letter to the freethought community, one that protested the inclusion of Hitchens and opposing any future speakers of his sort. I sympathized with the sentiment (and if the writer wants to send me an electronic copy, I'll post it here), but I think it was useful to have Hitchens stand up there and tell us what he thinks — and there was absolutely no reticence in his comments, which I admire. But while I agree with his goal of working towards a rational, secular world, a triumph of enlightenment values, I disagree entirely with his proposed strategy, which seems to involve putting a bullet through every god-haunted brain. To have a clearly stated position to which we can respond with clearly stated opposition is actually a kind of gift.
Hitch has always been a strong supporter of the war, a position I found a little puzzling until now. I guess he is, as one guy put it, "he's a highly entertaining nut job who happens to hold a few views similar to mine"
Don't Date Robots!
Jesus Christo!
"My forecast is that around 2050, the state of Massachusetts will be the first jurisdiction to legalize marriages with robots," artificial intelligence researcher David Levy at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands told LiveScience. Levy recently completed his Ph.D. work on the subject of human-robot relationships, covering many of the privileges and practices that generally come with marriage as well as outside of it.
Oh, a prediction by a grad student about his thesis topic having worldwide social and moral implications! Whew! I was worried there for a moment.
Still, it does one well to remember this dire lesson: Dont Date Robots!
"My forecast is that around 2050, the state of Massachusetts will be the first jurisdiction to legalize marriages with robots," artificial intelligence researcher David Levy at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands told LiveScience. Levy recently completed his Ph.D. work on the subject of human-robot relationships, covering many of the privileges and practices that generally come with marriage as well as outside of it.
Oh, a prediction by a grad student about his thesis topic having worldwide social and moral implications! Whew! I was worried there for a moment.
Still, it does one well to remember this dire lesson: Dont Date Robots!
Monday, October 15, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Pastafarians v. Senator David Vitter (R-Adultery-Hetro)
We need to teach *all* sides of the story!
Senator David Vitter, R-La, earmarked $100k in a spending bill for a Lousiana Creationist group that has challenged the teaching of Darwinian Evolution in the public school system.
The bill specifies the payment is "to develop a plan to better promote science education."
Clearly, this is important to Pastafarians, because we ALSO have a creation theory that challenges Darwinian Evolution - and our theory is backed by many in the scientific community.
Let's contact Senator Vitter and let him know that the Pastafarian creation theory is the one that should be taught.
You can email Sen. Vitter using this form.Phone:(202) 224-4623Fax: (202) 228-5061
Also in news from the CotFSM:
I’m sorry if Christians find the belief that the Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe “lame,” but –correct me if I’m wrong- Christians believe that a cosmic Jewish zombie can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him that you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat an apple of discernment from a magical tree. And they think the idea that a decrease in pirates caused global warming is ridiculous?
(here)
Senator David Vitter, R-La, earmarked $100k in a spending bill for a Lousiana Creationist group that has challenged the teaching of Darwinian Evolution in the public school system.
The bill specifies the payment is "to develop a plan to better promote science education."
Clearly, this is important to Pastafarians, because we ALSO have a creation theory that challenges Darwinian Evolution - and our theory is backed by many in the scientific community.
Let's contact Senator Vitter and let him know that the Pastafarian creation theory is the one that should be taught.
You can email Sen. Vitter using this form.Phone:(202) 224-4623Fax: (202) 228-5061
Also in news from the CotFSM:
I’m sorry if Christians find the belief that the Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe “lame,” but –correct me if I’m wrong- Christians believe that a cosmic Jewish zombie can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him that you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat an apple of discernment from a magical tree. And they think the idea that a decrease in pirates caused global warming is ridiculous?
(here)
Left v. Right Brain
Does she spin CW or CCW?
(if she isn't spinning, click on her. there have been some problems with blogger)There is some suggestion that the direction of spin you see tells you which brain hemisphere is dominant. I can see her spin either way, but when I first look I see clockwise. I'm pretty skeptical of the left/right thing since object roation is a full right brain function, i.e. you don't seem to have two seperate centers in your brain for CW and CCW spinning objects, each in a different hemisphere. OTOH, I know almost nothing about actual brain function, so don't listen to me. I'm ambidexterous and my brain dominance was shown to be evenly split in my neuropsych evalstwo years ago, so my perceptions may be unusual with this.
via here, here and here.
Chapter 1
of my book tenatively titled, How to Think for Yourself, is underway. I'll try and get an excerpt up this week. The first chapter is called, Theory v. Doctrine or because I Say So!
I was a little bored on the 20 hour flight home.
I was a little bored on the 20 hour flight home.
Nanny State Powers, ACTIVATE!
Form of, Regulation!
Shape of, a baby!
"Paul arrived in Amsterdam looking forward to a weekend with his friends. Instead, the 24-year-old Australian stayed holed up in his hotel room, too frightened to walk the streets after taking magic mushrooms.
``We had to lock ourselves up in case we would do something crazy,'' said Paul, who asked that his last name not be used because he didn't want acquaintances to know about his drug use. ``There is no way this should be legal.''
..
In Amsterdam, where the fungi are sold in so-called smart shops, local officials agree. The city council last month approved a three-day waiting period to cut down on tourist use. The national government is considering an outright ban after a French teenager leapt to her death in March. Health Minister Ab Klink will release a statement on the hallucinogens this week.
So, you go to a foreign country with more advanced ideas about personal responsibility than your own, get in a bit over your head and, rather than reflect on your own immaturity and lack of growth, you call for the Nanny State to rescue you.
Pathetic.
I'm not a user or fan of most hallucinogens, mostly because my brain gets more than a little weird and I dont enjoy them if they are strong. OTOH, I'm pretty sure it isn't my business if you do enjoy them.
Ugh. I'm starting to sound like Travis.
Shape of, a baby!
"Paul arrived in Amsterdam looking forward to a weekend with his friends. Instead, the 24-year-old Australian stayed holed up in his hotel room, too frightened to walk the streets after taking magic mushrooms.
``We had to lock ourselves up in case we would do something crazy,'' said Paul, who asked that his last name not be used because he didn't want acquaintances to know about his drug use. ``There is no way this should be legal.''
..
In Amsterdam, where the fungi are sold in so-called smart shops, local officials agree. The city council last month approved a three-day waiting period to cut down on tourist use. The national government is considering an outright ban after a French teenager leapt to her death in March. Health Minister Ab Klink will release a statement on the hallucinogens this week.
So, you go to a foreign country with more advanced ideas about personal responsibility than your own, get in a bit over your head and, rather than reflect on your own immaturity and lack of growth, you call for the Nanny State to rescue you.
Pathetic.
I'm not a user or fan of most hallucinogens, mostly because my brain gets more than a little weird and I dont enjoy them if they are strong. OTOH, I'm pretty sure it isn't my business if you do enjoy them.
Ugh. I'm starting to sound like Travis.
Back
FTR I'm back from Barcelona and in Seattle today, hooray! To those of you who were on my case over the last 2 weeks, I am headed to the doctor's tomorrow afternoon. For those of you who have not been on my case, well, thanks! I've had a weird cough for the last 2 months and people have been getting insistent I go get checked out. It's minor, but annoying.
The next leg of my trip is scheduled to start 28 Oct when I head to Tokyo.
The next leg of my trip is scheduled to start 28 Oct when I head to Tokyo.
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