Archive for August, 2009
Sign of the times?
It wasn’t that long ago that gasoline was going through the roof. Then we had the great recession with the housing crisis, the banking crisis and the auto industry crisis. And to top it off ammunition is still in short supply.
So I guess it should come as no surprise that supplies of this necessity are [...]
Something’s fishy
So my colleague Sheila Hagar has gone on vacation and I’m taking care of her fish, Gilligan.
Regular readers of Sheila’s blogs know about Gilligan, who has become a minor media star thanks to a YouTube video she posted of him attacking a finger somebody stuck in his bowl.
Gilligan is a feisty little guy but he [...]
Despair, Inc.
So I’ve ordered up a 2010 calendar from Despair Inc. and they sent me the following e-mail to let me know it’s being shipped:
“Since you’ve received this e-mail, it means that your credit card information proved valid and that your order has been sent. You might assume now that we have your money that you’re [...]
Here’s one really sick game
This is what you get in your e-mail from friends in the medical field:
SWINE FLU INSPIRES NEW VIDEO GAME
By Maria Cheng
AP Medical Writer
LONDON — Since swine flu first emerged in April, it has sparked panic, vaccine production and now, a video game.
In an effort to raise awareness, Dutch researchers have created a gmae that challenges [...]
Hopping on the bus
It’s good to have a guy like Cecil Adams around.
Cecil is the semi-mysterious author of The Straight Dope, which has been fighting ignorance since 1973 (it’s taking longer than we thought).
He takes on just about any question, but askers beware, he doesn’t always answer politely.
The most recent query is one that, I believe, even popped [...]
Oh, it was a long day
In the death spiral around a black hole, tidal forces rip you into a fog of particles that accelerate to the speed of light as they approach the event horizon.
Blue-shifting has never been so much fun.
Meanwhile, in Idaho, Dr. Kopeck looked with satisfaction at his perfected version of the Mega-Corn Cannon. An [...]
The view from the front
When I got a chance to fly in a B-17 bomber recently, I didn’t let the camera lie idle.
But due to space limitations, not all the photos could be used. Including these taken from the bombardier’s seat in the nose of the aircraft.
It’s a shame they don’t make airplanes with seats like that these days. [...]
Wimps and Machos
Sorry it’s been a while since my last post. Between people being on vacation, family leave and whatnot else, I haven’t had any time (or energy) to put anything up lately.
But now on to cosmic matters.
I’m reading a great book, “Einstein’s Telescope” by Evalyn Gates, which is about the hunt for dark matter and dark [...]
