APOD

Lori Allen, one of my classmates from grad school, is on Astronomy Picture of the Day today.

Way to go Lori! Death to Art!

Internet Explorer 8 Beta Launches Today

The critics say, "We’re agog". If they had stopped there, that would have been fine, but you know those critics, they can'tquit while they're ahead:

We’re agog to promulgation IE8 Chenopodiaceae 2 today for unstoppered download. You crapper encounter it at http://www.microsoft.com/ie8. Please essay it out!

The rest here

Periodic Table of the Videos

Best chemistry vidoes, ever!

Cesium is my favorite. I wish they would have put it in water though.

Cutting It Close

I got a call yesterday from Field Correspondent Brian, in the middle of the afternoon. Since he had recently take a great deal of my monies at a recent poker game, I thought he might be in town and I’d have a chance to get them back. Sadly, that’s not what happened.

This just happened and I figure you’re the only person I know that would think this is as funny as I do:

So I am in line at the deli counter in the supermarket trying to buy some salmon for a BBQ I’m having. Instead of grilling them over a metal grill, I am going to use actual wooden boards to give them that perfect, smoky taste. The deli didn’t have the size I wanted so I asked the guy if he could go in the back and cut some for me.
“What size do you want?: he asked.
“Make them Planck Length”, I said and broke up laughing!
…
Trust me, it was hilarious!


Sadly, I think he’s right, I am the only other person who thinks this is as funny as he does.

Why Are the Children Screaming?

"I don't get it - we just brought out the cakes, and poof! Mass hysteria!"

Cake Wrecks

Dear Jesus: your agonizing death is our cute toy!

Honestly, I truly dont understand where Catholics draw the line on what's acceptable and what's not. It seems to be one of those, "don't do this, but it's okay if I do" kinds of things.

Balloon Jesus!

(via)

The Trippiest Thing on the Web

Without hesitation:

(via)

Georgia On My Mind

A view from the corporate trenches. Comports well with my experience of former soviet republics.

Quite a different view from the Dannon Yogurt Commericals.

InTrade and Quantum Superposition

An intersting view of an election as a quantum mechnical system using the linear superposition of two states.

Actually, the fact that the two expected states, McCain and Obama, don't add to 100% is more interesting since it suggests a sum over histories approach would work better.

My Hardscrabble Childhood

This was all too common.

OTOH, this, and this are things my son is very familiar with, so overall it's a net win for me! Also, this is why I dont have any grandchildren.

I Could Not Make This Up

The World's Worst Stripper.

Yo Yo Yo! Listen Up!

I'm doing a Bag Lunch Astronomy when I get back to work in two weeks, and I was looking up some useful examples of the CPT Theorem, when I stumbled across this:

The C.P.T. Theorem is the sophomore album from rapper Greydon Square.

[edit] Track listing
The C.P.T. Theorem
Cubed
Judge Me
2008 Atheist Dreadnaught
Mission Statement
Game Genie
Fun & Games (Group Home Muisc Vol. 1)
Group Home Kid (Group Home Music Vol. 2)
A Soldier's Poem
Broken Home
Tuesday
N Word
Ascension
Galactica Actual

It's like someone took one of my conversations with Geoff and made a rap album out of it!

The Ronald McDonald

A biography in pictures.

Chemicals from the fries bring Ronald back to life as a zombie. He now survives by feasting on the flesh of the living.

Moral Depravity:

One of the many causes of atheism.

Not TJIC

Gunman Hated Liberals

Airplane Eightball Yin-Yang Glasses

Mailbox! Open Mailbox!

Truthy

Domino's Scientists Test Limits Of What Humans Will Eat

THEMIS Mission results

Aurora and magnetohydrodynamics, two of my all time favorite subjects! What's not to love about THEMIS??

Nothing must be held sacred.

PZ does a surprisingly good job with the communion cracker dealie. I was impressed, in part I suppose because I thought it was silly and irrelevant, but PZ turned this into a "teaching moment". Not for the folks who are complaining, anyone who believes a piece of bread is the literal and absolute incarnation of the Creator of the Universe and can be harmed by *not* eating it, is too far gone to find their way out. It was something for the rest of us to remind us how silly yet powerful the opposition can be.

The 400

I bought a new car today, a limited edition 2008 RX-8, 40th Anniversary edition. The negotitation was very, very tough and the dealership had a floor which I could not get past. It was higher than I wanted to pay, but not by a lot, and the guy absolutely would not go lower. In the end, we were arguing over increments of $10, so I accepted and wrote a check. I knew that it was a "limited edition" but I had already talked him out of the "premium" for it and a discount for buy a 2008 model car in a 2009 model season (which started last week). What I didn't know was how many cars were in the "special edition".

Celebrating 40 years of rotary engine production, Mazda has revised the suspension and trim levels on just 400 RX-8 coupes.
Bilstein sports suspension replaces the RX-8’s standard set up, while at the front, Mazda has filled the front suspension with foam in a bid to reduce road noise and vibration.
The 40th Anniversary Limited Edition RX-8 will get two exclusive exterior colours – Metropolitan Grey Mica and Crystal White Pearlescent.
Inside, the seats are trimmed in black leather with centre sections swathed in Alcantara, matching the steering wheel, handbrake and gear levers’ trim.
And for the ultimate RX-8 exclusivity, each 40th Anniversary model comes with a stainless-steel scuff plate etched with the car’s individual number – starting from 001/400.

I pick it up on Saturday, so I can find out which one I have then. Looking back on it, I am shocked I got it as cheap as I did. Technically though, it's 400 in the US, 200 in Japan, 100 in Canada and the UK.

Online pictures of my exact model here (its the grey one).

Good review (with pictures of the exact model) here.

I found where a YouTube with Top Gear's opinion.